We have been dealing with these annoying vines in our backyard. I admit they are lovely, they bloom with a bright yellow flower and then a sort of mini pumpkin-like seed pod. Yet in no time, they will completely cover everything around. I noticed them first on the back of the fence, and in the matter of weeks they spread to cover the mini palms and bougainvillea. A month later, they were literally everywhere. They now covered our entire fence, all the foliage and were creeping onto the back patio area. Enough was enough, something had to be done.
Thankfully I was in a super foul mood. Nothing like wrestling it out with a bunch of stinkin' vines. I attacked them with a vengeance. I have removed them before, what I learned the first time was this- you have to pull them out by the root, or they will absolutely come back. As I attacked the vines yesterday morning, I began speaking to the Lord. I was begging him to be clear with me on a number of issues. As I worked, He worked on my heart- revealing to me that I needed to first deal with my own sin areas. Ugh, thanks a lot God. How humbling is that???
Over the next hour and a half, He continued to show me what He meant. The weedy vines represent sin, and if I didn't do something about my sin, it would quickly overcome my life- the same way the vines were overcoming the backyard. There is something so interesting about this particular vine. Its root was green all the way down, then as it got close to the dirt- it became brown, as if to camouflage itself. You have to look very carefully to find it. Hmmm...doesn't our sin masquerade that way as well? It camouflages itself as justification. We have a right to be angry, to be vengeful....etc.etc, I am sure you get my point. Sin is the little lies we tell ourselves, to justify our angry feelings- our ________ feelings, easy to fill in the blanks with any number of deceptive emotions.
So I began to visualize pulling out my own sin areas as I pulled out those irritating roots. An amazing thing happened over that hour or two...I began to release my frustrations towards others and deal with my own foul self. With every root, I began to experience more and more freedom. In the end, I felt completely released and relieved. As Big C and I carted those vines to the alley can, I visualized throwing those selfish areas of my life away. I realize that the Lord used the situation to free me. I felt immensely grateful.
Now today, I have a few war wounds...scratches on my arms and literally about 15 splinters (darn those bougainvillea!). What a reminder though of what sin can do to us- it is damaging and it hurts. I realize that my sin hurts me, then spills over to hurt others in my life- taking over exactly as that vine does.
I face today with a renewed perspective, attitude and spirit. I praise God that he is gentle enough to show me, and loves me enough to humble me when necessary. Now I soldier on...doing my darndest to love those in my life the way Christ loves me.
And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. Keep putting into practice all that you learned and received from me- everything you heard from me and saw me doing. Then the God of peace will be with you.
Phillipians 4:8-9
May the God of peace be with you as well...
--The Amateur Mama
No comments:
Post a Comment