I HATE weeds. I know some of y'all were calling the preacher...oh wait...never mind...he already knows. Actually, since it's not ENTIRELY awful, the rest of y'all are already sitting back in your comfy chairs, thinking this is just the queen of the Carr Castle going off on one of her tangents again. But hang tight...she's hoping to make you not so comfy here pretty soon.
A few weeks ago, I decided my flower beds needed some attention. It had been a hot second since I'd last pulled weeds and checked on the transported flowers we moved earlier in the summer. Lest you jump in too early, I had delegated the watering of said flowers to the only child who was sitting at home every day this summer...we won't waste time elaborating how that went. On an unrelated note, the Carrs will need to purchase new perennials for next year. :/
So in spite of my old age...taking the power out of insults, one tragic truth at a time over here...I set about to clear the gardens of the enemy. Now listen, I'm fully aware that the weeds/sin metaphor has been preached to death, so to speak, by every Billy Graham and Chris Carr (you're welcome, dear) from here to kingdom come. There's nothing new under the sun, am I right?!? So I'm not coming to you with any ground-breaking news here...or am I, as Zane likes to say. (Incidentally, I had to literally BAN him from saying that last year, because it was making me lose my actual mind. But I can use it here because I'm the mother. Whatever.)
You see, I've heard my entire life that sin is like weeds. You've got to stay on top of it so it doesn't choke out the good plant/truths. Your little flower just can't grow to its fullest and most beautiful if the roots of weeds are choking it and stealing the nutrients. Yada, yada, yada...for sure...all true...and I get it.
But that day in the gardens, I noticed something new. Pretty weeds. Weeds that flower. Weeds that had a unique leaf design. Weeds like looked much like a gorgeous crawling vine. Pretty weeds that still had roots that were choking out my flowers. Pretty weeds that had spread so much that it was difficult to decipher between them and the planted flowers. And you know what thought crossed my mind? Maybe I'll just leave those. After all, they really are...pretty. I wondered if it really were such a big deal to just walk away and not pay attention to those.
Make no mistake, I went full-boar on the ugly menaces. No mercy for the aggravating and irritating suckers. Ripped out with a vengeance.
But the pretty weeds...the ones that potentially were "adding beauty" to my garden...might just leave those. Do they still have roots that are choking out my plants? Absolutely. Will they slowly and steadily kill my flowers? Also, yes. BUT they look better than the ugly weeds soooo...hesitation led to doubt. How bad could they be?
Surely, you see where I'm going with this. It's not rocket science, as the old people say. (I'm painfully aware of the theme here.) But I'll say it, nonetheless. The pretty weeds are potentially more dangerous because I plainly fail to see their danger. I can go ninja on the obvious weeds that so torment me and still end up with a struggling and dying garden because I didn't address the weeds that didn't look so ugly. This is our Christian life.
It's all too easy to try to avoid the BIG sins...you know, the most blatantly obvious sins we should denounce as believers. (I won't list because I don't want anyone to get lost in comparing lists...you know who you are.) Yet, here's the point, we can all-too-easily let other issues slide because it doesn't look quite as bad as adultery, for example. Some of our "issues" even seem fun and no big deal. And still, what is happening?!? Our pretty weeds are still choking out the blooms that the Lord is cultivating in our lives. We fail to do the hard things about our "acceptable sins," and so we choke and gasp and stumble along, hoping everyone will just see what's pretty...and not notice the lack of depth and fruit and growth.
So where does all this lead us? I think it must lead to more self-examination and a healthy dose of honesty. Some of us are completely blind to the health of our gardens because we've gotten rid of the ugly weeds, yet the root of the invisible or pretty weeds continue to choke the life out of our plants. We must be honest with ourselves about our acceptable sins, those pretty weeds, in order to begin to take steps to do the hard things. As the old proverb says, "Don't water your weeds," because what you water...will grow.
There it is. Maybe it feels equivalent to rocket science after all, given the level of difficulty it will take to accomplish this mindset. Maybe it was so obvious to you that you wish you had the last 5 minutes of your life back. Who knows where you land, but please know that many Christians find themselves squarely in the middle...often unaware, frequently in denial, even sometimes hardened to their own pretty weeds. So as in all of life, we need to move forward in truth and grace, both with others and ourselves.
How 'bout those pretty weeds in the gardens at the Carr Castle? I'll say this...very little grace was involved in their removal. Once God pressed this little epiphane on my heart, I couldn't very well walk away. Call it an assault, call it warfare, but yea...the pretty weeds were yanked out as well. In full disclosure, guess what I thought in the immediate aftermath?!? AFTER this little analogy was pressed onto my mind by the LORD! Hmmm...maybe I shouldn't have taken those out...it looks too empty and boring now. Sigh...back to the drawing board...more work to do on the gardener...but still, steps were taken. Steps toward growth and depth and health. I'd call that a good day of yard work.
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