Have you ever passed in someone’s garden and couldn’t help but take a photo of it, the way it just brings peace and comfort? After staying there for a while, you decide to try to make a garden in your home, you choose to ask the owner of the beautiful garden how to go about it, and she is willing to help you.
The kind lady gives you tips over a cup of coffee and some muffins. She honestly declares to you that it is not easy to do, but you are zealous to see your home look like hers.
The Garden of your Home
You start buying magazines about gardens and seeds that you need to begin the exciting work. Good luck.
The day to prepare the field finally comes; dressed up like a farmer, nails well trimmed and a bandanna wrapped on the head, you take on the job like you were born for it.
Starting the Exciting work
You plant the seeds and write a schedule for the watering. The first thing that you do when you wake up is run to the garden to tend to it. Sleep is no longer fun, nor is that soap opera you like.
The garden becomes your priority. Some weeks later, everyone is stopping by to see your garden. It is breathtaking. You can’t believe it’s your home now that has become the envy of everyone. People automatically smile when they come across your garden.
Friends come and borrow some flowers to put in their vases at home, and others just come to sit there and find some form of peace. The fragrance that these flowers bring is just unique.
The garden’s glory makes you a little lazy, and is that gloating I saw? You start missing to attend to it, “A day won’t do any harm,” you tell yourself, then comes two days, then three, and before we realize it, it has gotten to weeks… and a month.
The Glory and Lazy Days
It is no longer thrilling as it used to be. You return to the comfort of your sofa as you used to, and you no longer enjoy filling your vase with flowers. People no longer stop by to enjoy your garden, and it starts worrying you.
So you decide to analyze what is happening and realize it is the garden you have neglected. The fragrance is no longer there. It is a stench.
You notice there are foreign things you never planted, the weeds, and they are choking your beautiful flowers. Some flowers are in bad shape, others are rotten, and others you can’t understand what happened.
I know most of us do not have gardens, and if we do, we have only planted flowers in them if we are into horticulture. But other things in our lives are more like the garden, the flowers to be specific…
The Heart and Mind as Minefields
The heart and mind are great minefields; they can be farms where we can grow every possible thing we want. The best thing about them is that there are no limitations when it comes to them.
They can make you feel like the most beautiful person you have ever met or the ugliest duckling. They can make you feel like you are the real deal or just a person walking in motion.
When the convictions get to someone’s heart, it can be challenging to take them away.
So one time, you have mastered your thoughts and gotten your convictions in order. Align your will to the will of God, and the beliefs express themselves outwardly.
You start glowing because you have held firm to what you heard Him say, you got His instructions, and the Book has become your favorite. You can’t quite have enough of it.
The Power of the Word of God
Your mornings are defined by what the Book says, and every time you sit with someone, you cannot help but share the inspirations you have been getting.
People start realizing that something’s been happening to them, and you know it too. The manual of your life has been doing things to you from the inside out. After some time, other things become more critical than your quiet time, and you forget that your existence depends on every word from Him.
Missing a few days will feel like it’s just a regular thing, no harm, and the days are constantly adding up. Some movies here, a song there, and all. The convictions you had held firmly start being at risk.
The Choking Weeds in the Garden
Insecurities start creeping in, fear of failure, doubting what God told you, and repelling even the people drawn to you. These are the weeds that we have to be cautious about. They are cancerous, compete for the nutrients you have, and if the nutrients lack the word of God, your flowers will be choked.
Apostle Paul in Ephesians 5:26 was serious when he said that Christ sanctifies and cleanses His bride with the washing of water by the word. You can imagine the stench some of us could be carrying, and mind you, stenches have flown as followers!
Ephesians 6:17 describes the word of God as the sword of the spirit, the only weapon of attack. The rest are just for protection. The word of God is the only one that can kill and finish those weeds. Your part is to stand, stand with the word of God, and stand with what He promised you.
Going Back to the Beginning
Go back to what you used to do in the beginning. Reading the word might be boring, but your life depends on it. The first days may appear vain, but hold on, pull up your sleeves, keep reading, plowing your garden, uproot those weeds, and get the zeal back.
Don’t allow anything to choke the flowers in your garden. Proverbs 4:23 calls us to “Keep vigilant watch over your heart; that’s where life starts,” and being lazy will choke that life out of you. Don’t slumber as long as your heart is a concern.
We are to blame because of the garbage we let into our hearts. Thinking we are not good enough, contemplating being fired, and thinking of rejection even before we go for that interview. The list is endless. When our lives produce the thoughts we have been feeding our minds, we say it is the devil.
Galatians reminds us that we reap what we sow, so kindly mind the seeds you are planting, for they will take root in your heart and become real. Stop giving, failure or fear too much thought, and go ahead and do what God has called you to do.
Stop thinking so much of that divorce. You know that God hates it. Speak the proper nutrients into that situation, kill those babies before they become kings, too strong to kill.
Uprooting the Weeds in the Garden and Regaining the Zeal
Your heart requires daily workouts, be diligent at it, and you shall enjoy the good of the land. You are the first beneficiary of the produce your gut will give you. You are not a victim of circumstances. You may be lazy because I believe that where there is a will, a way always comes up.
Do not worry about the watering, the Lord will make it rain, and your harvest shall be bountiful, plant the right seed and do what you must. What you cannot do, leave it to Him, the Great and Skilled Gardener.
He prunes and mulches and adds fertilizer and all, some of the things He shall do might not be interesting but will cause you pain, but He won’t kill you. The ball is in your court. Are you willing to glow again and give a fragrance? Are you ready to partner with God to improve this world? Are you willing to blossom?
Then you have to go back and TEND THE GARDEN OF YOUR HEART.
This piece is mindblowing
May God help us
I choose to tend my garden
Thank you James… I have also pulled up my sleeves to work on mine
Woow.. Sofa, this is great advice. I loved reading it and sure wouldn’t mind sharing you.
Bless you.
Sifa*
Hehe… Yes
Amen… Thank you inkmade
Wow! It’s such a great reminder.. Keep encouraging.
Thank you Evaline. By the Grace of God I look forward to writing whatever He gives me insight to write about
Thank you for the report.
Best regards,
Thomassen Raahauge