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Maybe weeds have no meaning. Maybe they are just weeds.
Right after we got married, Tiffany and I planted a tomato plant behind our little apartment. Since then, we have had a little garden in just about every place we have lived. As missionaries, we have moved A LOT! Most places all we had was a little plot with a couple vegetable plants and maybe an herb or two.
We have not had a garden for a few years, but this year we started one again.
We have done all the right things: tilling, seeding, watering. We have the right soil and good sunlight. And what is the thanks we get for all our hard work? Weeds!
So we have concluded:
Because there are weeds, God is not good. Or maybe there is no God at all.
Because there are weeds, God does not love us.
Because there are weeds, we are not gardeners.
Because there are weeds, we are staying away from other gardeners.
Because there are weeds, we are giving up gardening!
Ok. We do NOT believe that at all. But isn’t that what we do with life and faith?
“I have tried to do all the right things, avoided sins, corrected wrongs, gone to church, followed good advice, and what do I get for all my hard work? An imperfect life!” So people conclude…
Because life is imperfect, there is no God
Because life is imperfect, God is not good.
Because life is imperfect, God does not love me.
Because life is imperfect, I am a nobody.
Because life is imperfect, I’m staying away from other people, especially those who think they know what they are doing.
Because life is imperfect, I’m giving up!
What is it for you? Fill in the blank, because life is imperfect ______________________. Could you fill in the blank with: I have pulled away from friends, stopped supporting people or causes I once believed in, I have distanced myself from any potential disappointment. I don’t pray. I don’t go to church. I don’t read the Bible. I don’t reach out to others.
Weeds are just a part of the journey. When Adam and Eve sinned, God said they were gonna have weeds to pull. It is just the way it is.
Jesus said, “In his life you will have trouble,
but take heart! I have overcome the world.”
You are going to have weeds to pull. But better to have weeds to pull from your garden than to have no garden at all (so to speak). Civil Rights leader and pastor Benjamin E. Mayes said it this way, “It is not a disaster to be unable to capture your ideal. It is a disaster to have no ideal to capture.”
In your pursuit to capture your ideal, you are going to encounter weeds (setbacks, tough times, struggles, challenges, hardships). But you will also have the fruit of your labor among the weeds. Or as Jesus said, “you will reap what you sow.” Much good will come from your hard work.
We like gardening. We do not like the weeds. And we definitely do not like the bugs that bite. But the weeds and bugs will not keep us from gardening. We like the effort of gardening and the result of gardening. So we keep gardening.
May the weeds of life will not keep you from the life God has for you. Onward!
Never be lacking in zeal,
but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord.
Romans 12:11
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