Beauty in the Weeds

I love a well-cultivated garden and neat rows of corn and sorghum, without weeds sticking out among them. Wheat fields, without weeds, are gorgeous just before harvest when those golden grains toss in the wind like waves in the ocean.

Even so, there is beauty in the weeds. Take a thistle, for example. The plant is ugly and stickery. Those sharp spines all along the leaves and stem can do some damage to your legs when you walk by or your hands when you pull them out of the ground. Yes, they are ugly.

But when the thistle blooms, wow! The ones in my area produce lovely lavender blooms, so pretty.  God creates beauty, even on the ugly thistle plant, even on the weeds. Of course, I pull the thistles before they bloom, so they don’t produce more thistles.

Sometimes, deep in my soul, I feel like a weed. My spirit can get ugly and stickery at times. Pity the poor person who comes near when my sharp spines are out. But God, in His wisdom, and in His time, creates beauty in my soul. He allows the blooms to form and creates beauty that outshines the stickery parts.

At times I get frustrated when others are being all weedy and stickery. I may lose patience with them and think there is no hope. But, again, God in His wisdom, and in His time, can bring forth the beauty in even the spiniest of weeds. I need to exercise my faith and watch for the joy and beauty of His redeeming grace to bloom in the weedy person.

At other times, the world around me seems filled with weeds. Problems abound. Wars, chaos, arguments, poverty. It all looks pretty weedy and feels so stickery. But God is always at work, even in the places that are overcome with ugly, stickery weeds. He is at work, bringing forth His blooms, in His way, in His time.

When I get discouraged by all the weeds in the world, I recall the words of Paul in Philippians 4:8, “Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.”  When I do this, I can see God at work in the ugly and the stickery. Then I am able to look beyond the weeds and see their blooms.

Oh God, creator of all beauty, when all I see is the weeds, remind me that You are creating beautiful blooms.