In the beginning of my Christian walk, I used to get numerous visions from God. They were so clear, it was almost as if He was standing beside me trying to teach me something.
I'd like to share some of my visions with you over the next little while... starting with this one.
I had a vision that I had a garden in my front yard. It was quite large, taking up a very big portion of my yard. I had spent a lot of time tilling the soil and planting seeds in the hopes of growing beautiful flowers to embellish my pitiful yard.
Anyone who's an amateur gardener knows that it's hard to not look at your garden every single day to see if there are signs of growth, even if the seeds were only planted the day before. The anticipation of growing something is palpable. It's exciting. I don't know about other people, but I was impatient.
One day, about a month after planting the seeds in my garden, I went outside to check on the progress. I was devastated to see that there were weeds growing everywhere. No flowers.. just weeds.
I went outside with a pair of gardening shears and proceeded to cut the weeds out of the garden. Hours and hours were spent snipping, sweating and throwing weeds off to the side of the garden. Finally, I was done. The garden was clear of weeds. I went back in to my house.
A few days later, I peered out of the living room window only to find that there were, once again, weeds in my garden. Only this time, there were more weeds than the first time. I was livid. Again, I went out to the garden with the shears and cut the weeds out. Again, I went inside, deflated.. feeling like a complete failure.
A few more days passed and again, I looked in the garden.. and, although there were a few flowers starting to poke their heads through the soil, the garden was still overrun with weeds. I went outside with my gardening shears to cut the weeds out once again. This time, however, I felt that I wasn't alone in the garden. I felt a hand on my shoulder. I turned to look and Jesus was standing beside me. In His hand, He held a trowel. He handed the trowel to me and explained to me that by cutting only the tops of the weeds off, I wasn't actually removing the weeds. I was only making them invisible but, under the soil, they continued to propogate.... out of control. By using the trowel, He explained, I could dig around the weed, underneath the soil.. and get right to the roots.. the lifesource.. of the weeds. I could then completely uproot them and get rid of them for good.
I took the trowel from His hand and began to dig.. right to the roots ... of the weeds that were choking the flowers that were trying to bloom. Once every weed had been uprooted, I returned to my house and went about my business. A few days later, much to my surprise and delight, my garden was filled with beautiful, colorful flowers with not a weed in sight.
This vision came to me very early on in my spiritual walk. It was a time when I used to say I had one foot in the pasture and the other foot in hell. I wasn't sure if I wanted to completely let go of the life that I was so used to living... and so I was still hanging around with people who not only didn't believe in God but totally denied His existence. I was very easily influenced and so, at that point in my walk, it wasn't a good idea for me to be around them. Jesus was telling me that these friends were like weeds in my garden. They were choking away the beautiful flowers that were trying to bloom in my spiritual garden... my walk with Him. I needed to uproot them from my life... even if only for a while... because if I didn't, they would stay in my life.. hidden beneath the surface... wreaking havoc on my very shaky new way of life.
Over a period of time, I did what I was supposed to do. I cut off contact with certain people and found myself growing stronger and more mature in my walk. I felt as though it would only be a matter of time before I could stand boldly before those same people and proclaim God's love to them.
I distinctly remember one day, I was driving somewhere and verbally expressing who else needed to be 'weeded from my garden'.... and suddenly, I felt God saying to me.... "My daughter.. while it is well and good to be getting these people out of your life for a while... you need to know that you are also a weed in other people's gardens."
My spirit sank. I had been so focussed on the people who were 'ruining' my walk.. that I never even took into consideration the fact that my incessant babbling about God (when I didn't even fully know Him myself) was bothering them... pushing them further away from God, in fact. Hence, I had become a weed in their gardens and someone they needed to get out of their lives .. even if only for a time.
No matter where you are in your walk.... in your life... even if you AREN'T a believer, know that nobody is perfect. While there may be people that bother you... people that aren't popular.. people who you might think are losers... druggies... whatever....you need to remember that you might actually be a 'weed in their garden' too.
No matter what, everyone on this earth has one ingrained need that is seemingly never satisfied... the need to be loved and accepted. Reach out in love and friendship. Try not to be a weed but understand if people need time away from you every once in a while. Sometimes, even Christians with the best of intentions, can be annoying... like weeds in the garden.
Try to remember that, as Christians, we aren't perfect... we're just saved.
Have a great day and happy gardening!!!
~~ Peace, LOVE and happiness ~~
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