Removing the Weeds and Briars

In times like these, we have to be especially vigilant about what we allow into our hearts.

I was recently working in my iris beds. They had been overtaken by weeds. It’s been a hot summer and I have needed to work on them for quite some time, but the heat and my busy schedule have given me every excuse to let them go. Plus, I rationalized that they won’t bloom again until the spring, so there’s plenty of time.

But, the weather finally cooled off and fall is the time to divide them, a task I could never do if they were covered in weeds. I put on some good shoes and gloves and went to work. Unfortunately, they were everywhere in every single bed I had, but as I got busy, I was pleasantly surprised at how easy they were to pull up. Their roots were so shallow. I removed them by the handful and the beds showed improvement very quickly.

I marveled at the difference and I was little annoyed with myself for letting the weeds get so out of control to begin with when it required such a small effort on my part, to remove them. I congratulated myself on my progress, when I encountered a briar. Briars are an entirely different kind of weed. They aren’t just ugly and annoying. They climb and wind themselves around the things we plant. When you try to pull them, they have tiny thorns that will tear your skin. Furthermore, when you pull hard, they break off, leaving the root in tact, just biding its time to return.

As I looked at my cleaned up beds, I was reminded of how easy it is to let things enter into our hearts that cause clutter like those weeds, things like doubt, fear, despair and hoplessness can rob us of our joy and the beauty our lives can hold. We need to be vigilant about keeping our eyes focused on Jesus so He can remind us to be at peace and trust in Him and His plan. We can do this through prayer and and reading the Bible where we find countless stories to remind us. When we walk with Jesus, He can help us sweep those things away on a regular basis.

But, there are other things that we can allow to take root like anger and hate that are like briars. They have the power to wrap around our hearts and cause serious damage. Ephesians 4:26-17 says, “In your anger do not sin: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold.”

There seems to be a lot of anger these days. Just watch a newscast or scroll your social media feed. The venom spewing from peoples’ mouths shows the poor condition of their hearts. Many have allowed anger to get a foothold and hate and chaos have resulted.

As God’s people, we are called to first love God and then one another. If we harbor hate, can we love one another? Can we truly love God with a heart that harbors hate?

As a very important election draws near, perhaps now more than ever before, people of faith are called to stop scrolling and start asking God to root out the hate in our own hearts as well as the hate in our neighbor’s. Maybe then, we can with pure hearts, pray for healing, peace and reconciliation and He will hear our cry and heal our land.

Some overgrown iris beds reminded me to be vigilant with what we allow into our hearts. Perhaps you needed reminding too.

Have an awesome day!
Wendy 🙂