THE GARDEN

by Rhonda McGuire

It was a brisk Sunday afternoon. I grabbed my jacket, for although it was spring, the temperature had dropped below 50 degrees. It looked as though the clouds would fall soon and bring some more spring showers. The ground was still moist from the three days of rain we had just endured.

My days had been full with my job, battling a strong case of bronchitis, coaching our sons' baseball team with my husband Bob, going to our foster daughter’s soccer games, spring cleaning the house, and going room by room trying to free my life of cumbersome belongings. I tend to go through these bouts of simplifying and getting back to the basics. Although the Lord has provided me with many blessings in trying to stay on top of my home responsibilities, when I get busy or ill, my house is the first thing to go.

Today I purposed that I would spend some "me time" outside doing yard work. Some might consider yard work a chore, but granted (when I have the time) I just love to get outside and dig in the dirt. Since I don't feel I'm inherently blessed with a green thumb, I'm in awe when I see the seedlings or clippings come up that I planted the Fall before. Then there is the exhilaration of mowing the lawn. Okay - call me strange. It's just one of those "I don't have to concentrate"—type of chores when I can work and pray, or listen to CDs and actually absorb it. Whereas when I am on a task like cooking dinner, I find it hard to shuffle two or three lines of thought at one time, much less follow a recipe correctly.

Although it was Sunday, and we generally spend it together as a "family day", my husband was busy cleaning the van, our son was attending a birthday party and our daughter was in her room doing her homework. This was the perfect opportunity for me to meditate on today's message, dig in the dirt and lift up some concerns that had been burdening my heart on that day.

I grabbed the grass recycle bin and went to work. Although I had just done my weeding only a week before, I noticed their ugly little tendrils peering out again. Not only had they started to overrun areas where they didn't belong, but several of the vine-type weeds had even started to wrap themselves around the healthy young sprigs.

As my task wore on I became a bit irritated. These little "buggers" were popping up everywhere. I had to stay on top of their progress or indeed my quaint little garden would soon be strangled out and killed. After all, these weeds tend to sap out all of the good nutrients from the soil, and overrun the root systems that brought new life to my plants—literally choking them out.

As I unwound a weed from one vibrant plant, determined to yank it out by its roots, the Lord gently spoke to me. In His ever tender voice He said, "This soil is much like your heart. If you allow the weeds of sin to creep in, they will take over and choke out the good fruit which I have grown in your life."

Oh Lord, You are so right! I must clear them all out! I thought as I continued my work. The Lord's soft reminder brought me back to the parable of the seed and the sower.

In Matthew 13:3: "Behold, a sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seed fell by the wayside... some fell on stony places... and some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up and choked them. But others fell on good ground and yielded a crop; some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. "He who has ears to hear, let him hear!" - and then of course Jesus' explanation of the parable in verse 22 - "Now he who received seed among the thorns is he who hears the word, and the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful."

Isn't it just like the Lord to use any daily life situation to speak to us? I prayed as I continued to work, "Father, You and only You can see my heart. Please search it Lord and with Your hand clear out the weeds of sin that I have allowed to creep in and choke out the fruit of Your hands. Reveal to me the sins in my heart that I am unaware of. Only You truly know my heart—till it, rake it, clear it out, pour out Your living water—then replant where the soil is bare, for Your glory and use. In Your Son's name, Amen."

My work in the garden was done - but the Lord's work in my heart had just begun - anew....

-1996

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