Guest Blogger ... Mary DeMuth

Yes, sometimes.

Yesterday while running, the Lord reminded me of the Garden of Eden, how beautiful it must've been. And to think, no weeds!

I thought further about weeds and then reminded myself of the hard things God had been saying to me of late, how He's asking me to edit my life, say no. It's a lot like weeding, this saying no thing. Because when you do, you uproot something that takes over everything (if you're careful to pull out all the root structure.)

As I continued down the path of my local park, another thought came to mind. What if some people were weeds? What if there were folks who took over our lives (not just physically or with time, but emotionally too, where they take up space in our minds?) Ecclesiastes tells us there's a time to plant and a time to uproot what is planted.

There are folks who are like weeds in my life. And in this juncture, thankfully, they're not deeply imbedded in my day-to-day activities. In that way, God has uprooted them from me. But I let these weedy folks (who have spoken destructive, painful words over my life) take up residence in my mind, mulling over their mean-spirited words, ruminating on what I could've done to possibly change their minds about me.

In that conundrum, I know there are three primary ways of weed removal:

I can simply pretend the weeds are pretty, tolerate them, even water them. Often, I've done this. I've tried to hope for the best with some painful relationships, doing my best to jump through hoops so all will be well. The result? Those weeds take over my heart, choking me.

I can spray toxic chemicals on them. This happens during direct confrontations with said weeds. If I allow someone to hurt me so much that I retaliate with words, then I've given in to sin. Better to take the pain to Jesus and ask Him to be my defender.

I can ask the Master Gardener to fully uproot the weeds, not only from my day-to-day life, but from my heart and mind. When He does this, healing begins. I simply can't be a beautiful, lush garden with weeds invading. The hard part? Sometimes weeds pose as flowers. And sometimes flowers look like weeds. Only the Master Gardener knows the difference and can order my life and relationships accordingly. The key to weed removal is close proximity to the Master Gardener.

In this endeavor to simplify my life, I've had to entrust every relationship to the Lord, particularly the ones that drain me or tear me down. I remember one time many years ago when my dear friend Stacey sat in her car with me and told me she'd been weeding out her friends. It had been a painful year for her. At its end, God told her to simplify her relationships, choosing the ones that best blessed her and challenged her.

"I choose you," she told me.

I'd invite you to evaluate your life right now. In what ways are you throwing your relational pearls before swine? Who are the weeds in your life? Who are you afraid to let go of? Who has acted like an enemy, speaking words of discouragement over you. Perhaps it's time to press into the Master Gardener, to trust Him to pull the weeds that need to be pulled, and plant the flowers that need to be planted.

posted by Margaret McSweeney @ 5:42 AM