Weeds

If weeds were flowers my yard might win some sort of neighborhood gardening award. Though I don’t think that even exists in White Settlement, TX. Seriously, my backyard has been invaded all sorts of leafy creatures. I’m choosing to blame it on the fact that Fort Worth did not have a real winter this year. Or…maybe it’s the fault of the middle schooler across the street who never got around to mowing my yard one last time before “winter” came. Weeds have always been my nemesis as a home owner and I loathe trekking around my yard pulling up those nasty beasts. My former housemate Jen and I tried pretending we were on a mission trip to make it seem more bearable, but the change in perspective produced very short-lived results.

So, today I decided I would attempt to tackle some weeds yet again. As I yanked them up, I could not help but to draw some parallels between my yard work and my current fight against sin. I pull these ridiculous weeds up all the time, but they always come back. I think I fix one part of the yard and then they show up in another area. I used to have one type of weed, but now I have another. I try not looking at the weeds and pretending they don’t exist, but they still remain…and get even larger. I sure you get my point.

This weekend, I started Redemption Groups at my church. “A Redemption Group is an intense small group that digs deep into difficult and seldom-discussed areas of life, such as abuse, addiction, and trials of all sorts.” Participants spent a good portion of the first weekend listening to each other’s stories and current struggles. When we wrapped up our time on Saturday, I felt both drained and angry. Every person’s life is filled junk…and it isn’t the kind that’s easy to discuss. We constantly try to fix ourselves, hide what we have done and what’s been done to us. We become bitter toward God and those around us because we don’t have lives like we think we deserve. The weeds that we think we have pulled out just keep coming back. The problem lies in the fact that we can work ourselves to death to seemingly rid ourselves of these weeds, but it is impossible. A sinful being cannot rid himself of sin. Fortunately, God graciously paid for each and every sin in our life through the cross of Christ because we cannot work our way to perfection. I cannot understand why God allows so much pain in our lives, but I do know that He is good and faithful and that He deserves glory. I can type those words, but really letting them play out in my life is a different story…a story that God is writing, not me.