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.

Cleaning the Stove

This morning I cleaned my stove. You know, took out the burners and the drip pans and cleaned all the accumulated gunk. Most of it wiped up easily, but a few spots took a little elbow grease and some steel wool pads. Before long, the stove looked shiny and (nearly) new.

As I worked, my mind meandered, as it tends to do. I thought about all those meals I’d cooked on this stove. Would you believe it? Twenty-seven years’ worth of meals. That’s a lot of years and a lot of meals. Any botched meals were the fault of the cook, not the stove. It endured boil-overs, splatters, occasional burned food, and spills on the burners.

As my mind wandered, I couldn’t help but compare myself to that stove. Twenty-seven is pretty ancient for a stove. Now I don’t consider myself ancient, but I am retired, and I am on Medicare. Even though I don’t like the title, I am officially classified as elderly.

In all my years, I’ve botched so many things, said or done the wrong thing to the wrong person. I have boiled over in anger, regretting words that came out of my mouth. Over the years, there have been countless occasions where I’ve just made a mess of things. I haven’t followed God’s recipe for my life. I’ve been spiritually careless and taken things and people for granted.

 I am so grateful that God is always willing to clean up my messes. No matter what I have said or done, or how often I have ignored his suggestions, he is willing to forgive. Even when I make a huge mess, He helps me clean it up, He forgives and offers me grace. He opens my eyes to truth and wisdom in His word, and he shows me a better way.

Are you ready to ask Him to help you clean up your messes and offer you grace?

Keep the Eyes of Your Spirit Open

“We lose interest and give up when we have no vision, no encouragement, and no improvement, but only experience our everyday life with its trivial tasks. The thing that really testifies for God in the long run is steady perseverance…Ask God to keep the eyes of your spirit open to the risen Christ and take the next step.” Oswald Chambers