Parts of my garden and yard are radiant with color, aroma, and new life after several years of neglect due to health issues. It’s been a joyous, yet hard project to transform my yard. A vast variety of flowers are in full bloom giving pleasure to the eye: purple irises, reds of wave petunias, bright yellows daises, lavender inpatients, pink hibiscuses, orange marigolds, and more. Fragrant plants like fuchsia peonies and red and pink roses exude their perfume with their delightful smells.
Verdant greens of ferns and Hosta lilies, monkey grass, and different types of ground covers are spread across the beds in a display of splendor and beauty. It was the hardest winter we’ve ever had in the South and many plants died, while others survived. The hydrangeas are coming back alive after aggressively cutting back all the dead stalks. And beds are reviving after removing many dead plants and replacing them with new plants.
I’ve made huge strides and accomplished a lot of transformative work over the weeks with lots of help. But I see whole sections of the neglected yard that are overrun with weeds, crabgrass, poison oak, and poison ivy that still need attention. Sometimes it’s overwhelming to look at it all.
My garden reminds me of the heart and the condition of our souls. Creation began in a garden. God walked and fellowshipped with Adam and Eve before sin entered. What was once flawless, became overrun with death, weeds, and poisonous plants, or became barren and wild. Our hearts are no different and in truth, we are a type of garden as well.
Many areas in my life are fully abloom with God’s Word and His beauty, truth, and Presence. In these places, seeds of righteousness have grown into a beautiful garden of love, faith, and good deeds. His Spirit is evident.
But in the places where the poisonous vines of sin or the enemy’s lies grow, I need exposure to the light and Your truth to displace the poison. The deadly vines of generational sins, like alcoholism, must be eliminated to stop the damage to my family. Weeds of sin that try to fill my heart like jealousy, comparison, bitterness, or anger must be plucked up and dug out. In its place trust, contentment, joy, forgiveness, and more must be planted.
In any places of the wilderness, like strongholds of fear or barrenness of soul, or unbelief, God wants to transform into new places of beauty that reflect His very nature. And anything that is dead needs to simply be cut off, uprooted, and eliminated.
Life and the heart are like a garden. When we root out the old, we must plant something new in its place. For something will grow there, the question is what? Life or death? Do I want some areas of my life to remain wild, untamed places full of weeds, poison, and death? Or do I want my life to be like a beautiful fragrant garden full of the life-giving gifts and nature of the Holy Spirit?
God wants to help us eradicate all that is displeasing to Him. He wants to weed out the bitterness, anger, and unforgiveness. He wants to help us pluck out pride, rebellion, and unbelief. He wants to help us destroy poisonous vines of any iniquity. He wants to empower us to root out all the wild areas where there’s no self-control or where we haven’t allowed Him to be the Master Gardener.
In its place, He wants to plant His Word and all the fruits of the Holy Spirit to transform our hearts, minds, and lives. Just like the beautiful parts of my yard and garden that reflect a place of life and beauty, God wants to work in all of our lives. The question is: will we work with and cooperate with the Master Gardener to transform our lives?
Beloved:
Do you know that I am a Master Gardener and I create things of beauty? A garden was My idea to start with. And just like a literal garden, I want to transform your heart and life to reflect all that is of Me. Everything of beauty you see in the creation is reflective of My nature. Come to Me in surrender and let us work together to transform the garden of your heart. You will be amazed and in awe of the transformative beauty.
“And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into His image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.” (2 Corinthians 3:18)
“For as the earth brings forth its sprouts, and as a garden causes the things sown in it to spring up, so the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to spring up...” (Isaiah 61:11)