How Does your Garden Grow? Part 2
by Lindsey Hanekom
Yesterday, I talked about our newly sown lawn and how we have watched the grass grow from seed. Now, five weeks since we sowed the seed, we finally have something resembling the luscious lawn we dreamt of. But, there is a problem - weeds, and lots of them! Where did they come from? How did they grow so fast? Why did they grow faster than my grass? And, most importantly, how do I get rid of them?
Fortunately, I was able to ask the advice of the gardener who levelled our lawn. He walked around our lawn identifying each weed by its name and its character. “This one will disappear once you mow the lawn,” he said, pointing to one particular kind. “This one will need digging out at the root. These ones will go with a mild weed-killer that won’t harm your grass. This one will need a harder weed-killer just on the weed itself.” Then he said, “But be careful, you don’t want to do too much until the grass has really established. You need to feed your lawn and get it hardy before you start digging around and using too many chemicals. Your bigger problem is that the grass isn’t fed enough, it’s turning slightly yellow.”
I was instantly reminded of this parable of the Kingdom of God in Matthew’s Gospel. Jesus Himself said that, in the Kingdom, some ‘weeds’ will be left in order to preserve the wheat. Although we can read the parable in the context of end-times, maybe there’s something in this for us personally.
I was focussing on the weeds, but the gardener changed my focus on to the grass – get that right and you can sort the weeds out later. How many of us are focussing on the ‘weeds’ of our lives but not working on building up the strength of our relationship with God, the fruitful part of our lives. Once that has been done, the weeds can be dealt with according to their character. But we must be in a place to be able to sustain our growth when that takes place.
Prayer: Father God. Thank You that You allow me to grow, despite the ‘weeds’ of my life. Help me to be patient and trust You with the timing to deal with the issues as I choose to focus on developing my relationship with You. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
Lindsey Hanekom Lindsey has worked at all of our UK centres over the years and has settled at Ellel Scotland with her husband, Johann and their two young children, Kyle and Zoe. As part of the Leadership Team at Ellel Scotland, Lindsey has a heart for the deeply broken as she oversees the prayer ministry and is an established and passionate teacher with Ellel. In her spare time, Lindsey enjoys the natural world, particularly the ocean, and is trained as a specialist medic to assist stranded and injured marine mammals.
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