Weeds

I thought my second devotional post should be something that goes hand in hand with gardens and fruit, and the first word that popped into my head was… weeds. A part of every garden, however well-maintained, and such a headache for gardeners I’m sure!

Now, I grew up on Enid Blyton books and fairies… those Tinkerbell-like, mythical creatures that lived in Buttercups and floated on wisps of dandelions. Buttercups! As an impressionable 7 year old, the very name was impressive and in my mind’s eye I saw a big, fat, buttery yellow cup-like flower (something like a big tulip), and it stayed that way until we moved to Canada.

After a seemingly never-ending winter, I drove to work one morning to see a burst of colour – there were literally thousands of tiny yellow flowers competing with the dandelions – just about everywhere! Drops of yellow gold dotted the landscape. And these beautiful, miniscule flowers I was told, were buttercups!! 🙂 That year, it seemed like they came out in the millions!

And ever since, every Spring, I take the scenic route to work, and take great joy in driving by field upon field covered with buttercups and dandelions. I tend to wax quite poetic about these flowers – much to the amusement of my Canadian friends, who then took great pleasure in informing me that these “glorious flowers” of mine were just “pesky weeds” to them!!  You see, unfortunately the buttercup, along with the ubiquitous dandelion, causes the gardener great grief. If left unchecked, they consume the soil nutrients and take over the garden and hence have to be pulled out! 🙁

How on earth could these beautiful flowers be weeds? And as I reflected on this while doing my devotionals one day, I saw a life-lesson begin to unfold. I needed to do some self-reflection, and look for weeds in my life. But, how would I identify them? And two parallels jumped out at me. 

• In a garden, some weeds are obviously toxic weeds and need to be pulled out. A couple of years ago, several signs came up all over our city: “ATTENTION: Invasive Noxious Weeds”. The newspapers called them a toxic Knotweed “an invasive noxious weed that grows very aggressively, crowds out native plant species, and causes injury to people and livestock”. The City and gardeners make every effort to ensure it is removed and destroyed. But sometimes, the roots are so deep that it turns up again, a couple of seasons later.

So, I can see “obvious” weeds as “obvious” sins according to the Bible, and I know those will definitely rob my life of energy and the nutrients necessary for the fruit of the Spirit to be manifest in me. Well, they obviously need to be go! But the important lesson here is to remember that it has to be pulled out by the root. If not, it always will “…give the devil a foothold.” Ephesians 4:27

• Secondly, I now know that when buttercups and dandelions grow all over our lawn, my husband, the gardener, who loves his garden dearly, is not being heartless when he pulls them out by the root and dumps them! However beautiful they look, they have no place in our garden. It’s just a pesky weed taking from what is rightfully planted in the plant beds or lawn. But in the fields and on the side of the roads where it grows wild and free, it does exactly what its Creator intended for buttercups and dandelions to do. Add to the beauty of the earth. They are considered weeds simply when they are in the wrong place.

Sometimes, things in my life might not seem obvious weeds. They look beautiful and seem fine on the outside, but if they are draining my life in some way, they need to go. It just might be a matter of transplanting – moving or prioritizing, but it has to be done. Otherwise these weeds, however beautiful, will take away from what should be an abundantly fruitful life!

A few years ago we visited the beautiful Butchart Gardens, in Victoria. And while we meandered through the perfectly manicured lawns and gorgeous landscaped flower-beds, my gardener husband found to his surprise that a few of the plants that he threw away as weeds were allowed to grow in profusion in their designated areas. But, it was the statement that he made softly, almost to himself, that caught my attention. “You know, anything I don’t plant in my garden, I consider a weed.”

And ever since, that’s been my touchstone when reflecting on weeds in my life, friends. Anything not planted by the Master Gardener of my life is a weed, and has to go!

If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. John 15: 5b

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