Although our house is ugly as all get out, it’s mercifully improved by a lively patch of landscape adorning the front. There are lilacs, rhododendrons, irises, and a dozen other luscious green things which I cannot name. The whole huge patch is full of green and every time I pull into the driveway I smile–it just looks so full and flourishing and healthy! I love it.

But a few days ago I looked a little closer. 

The kids and I spent most of Thursday outside playing in the dirt. It was the perfect opportunity to admire the flourishing foliage of the front yard so I eased down into the grass and looked a little closer at the plants.

I blinked my eyes. Had I really never noticed? 

It was weeds.

All weeds. 

Sure, a few legitimate shoots were desperately poking their heads above the cacophony of noxious plants, but the rest–by far the majority–were nothing more than enthusiastic weeds.

Really?

My heart sank as I realized that all this time what I’d thought was beautiful, lush, healthy growth was really nothing more than a creeping commotion of impostors. And so wildly had all this commotion grown that the entire patch of landscape was literally overrun with green nets of tangled arms. This was no neat and tidy weeding job. There was nothing to do but set to work with trowel and dig out huge patch after huge patch of weed-infested earth.

The spiders, the infections, the mice … and the weeds. (Was God telling me something?)

After spending all afternoon weeding, I stepped back and surveyed my work. Most of the weeds were gone, it was true, but sadly the result was … ugly.

True, the real flowers were cleared away and no longer suffocated by weeds.But now the space looked sparse, empty even. The patches of bare dirt made the whole space look awkward and blotchy.

Honestly, it looked better when the weeds were there. 

I knelt back down in the dirt, sunk my trowel back in to unearth one last weed.

And I paused just long enough to listen:

This is what the church must do. 

Not my church, or your church–the church. That is, us. 

That is, me.

Bare dirt looks terrible. Almost as bad as blank space. Or empty seats. Or quiet calendars. We must FILL. Must fill the space. Must fill the calendar. Must fill the seats at all cost. But I wonder, How much of that filling is fruit … and how much is a commotion of weeds? 

Commotion. 

I know this word is for me, but perhaps some piece of it can apply to you as well? The truth is that only true fruit will last. Only the real stuff. The legitimate plants. The weeds will be burned up. Gone. But in the meantime, sometimes we are content with our landscape full, flourishing, abounding. But what if it’s abounding with weeds?

Weeds: Any activity less than the pure, authentic, Spirit-led work of God. 

What I was amazed by was how pretty some of the weeds were. I was tempted to let them grow until I googled them and saw how noxious they are. So too, some of our “ministry” can look so pretty, can seem so good, but I wonder–is it merely commotion? Does it choke out the real fruit? Is it simply something to fill the space because bare dirt just looks so ugly?

Plain soil isn’t beautiful.  Is it?

Plain soil is beautiful to a Gardener who loves to grow remarkable fruit. Plain, rich soil is exactly what our Father wants. His hands are full of seed and He is ready to plant.

Will He find any space to plant?

Is there any bare space in our lives for Him to plant His good fruit?

Or have we allowed the commotion of weeds to fill the space, because it looks better?

Is anybody else receiving this but me? Because oh friends, these seeds are getting poked down deep in my heart.

Poked down so deep it hurts just a bit.

How is your soil? Is it full of commotion? Overrun with weeds and activity? Is there any bare soil, just a spot, where the Gardener can plant his perfect fruit to glorify His name?

Perhaps some ruthless weeding is in order today?

Me too.

{Thanks for reading.}

15 thoughts on “A closer look at all that's lush and green …”

  1. This is beautiful, thank you. I think it’s going to be cause for some uncomfortable soul searching as well… I think there are some beautiful weeds in my life too that I’ve been avoiding pulling.

  2. Kari! I loved this one, I have always thought of the passage that speaks to the trimming of a tree when I weed my gardens it makes me also think where I need to do some weeding in my life. Very good! Thanks for sharing

    1. Yes! Oh the sacred mundane–how He teaches us His truths through the dailiness of life. Thanks for commenting here, Dawn. Bless you, girl!

  3. This is interesting! I see blank soil as opportunity – it is a bit overwhelming but oh the possibilities! {ps, I wish it were time to divide plants because I could surely fill your garden with my plants! 🙂 }

    1. See, YOU have a gift for planting things in bare soil so you can understand how God sees! I just see it as emptiness. 🙂 Can I learn from you. 🙂 Can’t wait to see you this weekend!

  4. Wow, I think it’s time for the church to get on this weeding job. I know I need to personally do some weeding. I wonder what fruits we would see grow, if we all took this to heart. Great stuff, Kari!

    1. Yes, that’s exactly it, Jennifer! The fruit that would grow if there were space for it! Thanks, girl. Bless you as you weed!

  5. Margin. Room for the good and beneficial things to grow. Yes indeed Kari weed PULLING and not the quick fix weed whack! Pulling out the roots is hard work. Thanks for the clear picture of the need in our lives and hearts for some serious weed removal. But ahhh, we must know what the weed is , yes? And as you found on your web search some of the things having the appearance of good growth are nothing but impostors! So before the Gardener we must go with our plants and find out what is good and what needs to be tossed. We can trust He will fill in the empty spots created by the weeds removal with beauty beyond our imagination!

  6. Good thoughts Kari. The other thing I wonder is how many of us are sporting flowers, that are real flowers, but are not ours. Such as someone has said that we must have roses, because that is what our church, family, and so on plants….but in God’s design for me, I don’t have roses. I’ve got flowers that others say can’t be me…because they are not looking closer and honestly at me. They are seeing what they want to see in me, not what is really there, or supposed to be there. I think that those flowers can be more horrible then a weed, because why would we pull out a flower….since it is a flower? And everyone around me says that I HAVE to have roses. Yet I am more of a sunflower, bachelor buttons, and columbine girl?

  7. Well, when you put it that way… !! Thanks for sharing this vivid word-picture. It fits in SO well with Matthew 13, especially verse 22 describing the plants choked out by “thorns” (aka weeds), and is especially convicting for me. We live in Silicon Valley, where “the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and it proves unfruitful” is often too true. 🙁 I’ve joined Kat at Inspired to Action’s Hello Mornings Challenge this summer to help keep myself in the Word–doing a bit of much-needed weeding so it doesn’t get choked out in my life! (Sorry not sure how to include a link for that, or if you’ve heard of her, but it’s a great challenge!)

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