Spring

I have sweet little leaves pushing their heads up from the soil this time of year. They will be a beautiful mix of poppies, marigolds, and a plethora of mixed flowers to draw the butterflies and humming birds. I planted them from seeds a couple of weeks ago, and prepared the soil before planting. It was hard work digging the ground. But I knew it would be worth it.

Getting to the Root

I believe that’s exactly how the Lord works in each of us. First, He does the hard work of digging up all the things in our lives that shouldn’t be there: all the things that take over our hearts and choke out His loveliness that He wants to sow within us. He digs up bitterness, pride, and selfishness for starters. He pulls it by the root.

Helping the Process

Does this process always have to hurt and be so hard to do? Not always. We can soften our hearts by reading and listening to the word of God. God’s word and prayer is like rain upon our hearts. It is nourishing and softens the ground it falls on. As any Gardner can tell you, they would much rather dig on freshly rained-on softened ground rather than hardened dirt. If we have not spent time in His word and with Him, then what He wants to bloom in our lives may be mixed with weeds that choke out the beauty He has planned for us. Roots are much easier and more likely to be completely removed if the ground is soft. All He needs is a willing heart.

Lord Reign

If we let the Lord reign in our hearts, then when it comes time for the Lord to pull out the roots of bitterness, pride, selfishness, etc., we will find the work of the Lord is done with more ease. Like hardened ground though, that hangs on and resists the roots being pulled out, is our hearts without His beautiful Reign.

Prayer

Soften my heart Lord with Your word. Reign in my life that I may not resist what you have for me. Even though during the time of  “digging” out weeds of my heart my seem painful, help me to know You have better plans. That you are planting seeds You desire. Help me to understand that the process takes time and during it all, I need to nourish the work you do within me with Your word and with prayer. Thank you Jesus for being my gardener who watches over my heart and my life.

See my previous blog post, a poem titled Reign