Things happen in life that we don't expect and can't change . . . those are the times we just have to deal with whatever was thrown at us and keep going. I've kept going, but I am consumed with fear although deep in my heart I know everything is going to be ok.
Changes, transitions and the unknown will also do that. The "unknown" is the one thing that will put the fear of God in me. It is one reason I hate to get caught up in the "why me" syndrome because things can also be a little worse than they are. "Why me" is being human, but in my path to gratefulness it makes me feel guilty and small in the large picture of recent natural disasters.
In my quest to confront the fear, I found the following article on rooting out fear by Pastor Tim Burt. Love this article and can so relate to it! I allowed too many weeds to grow in my garden . . . in more ways than one. :)
I’m a gardener. I love to garden. My mom loved to garden when I was a boy and she would often have me split and move plants for her. I never realized at the time how much it would impact my life.
It really has impacted my life. I can see a lot of my mom’s qualities in my life. Having ten children, she had a very nurturing side to her. I’ve noticed that I have that in me. I love to watch things grow. I love to help and watch Christians grow in their faith. That is probably why I have created and head up a very large Small Group system of hundreds of groups at our church. I love to watch and help people grow in walking out their leadership abilities. That is probably why I love to teach our Leadership Development Classes and minister to the men at our monthly Manhood Breakfast. I love to watch my garden grow. That is probably why I have a very large flower garden. If you get your Fresh Manna mailed to you and you get the garden graphic at the top; that is a slice of my garden. When I am working in the garden, I am continually reminded of Bible principles that strengthen my faith.
You’ll find that in every garden, weeds that you never planted spring from the ground. Your heart and your garden are the same. Weeds – fears, worries, and evil imaginations invade your heart and mind that seem to come from nowhere. Jesus in trying to teach His disciples about how our heart and mind works used gardening and farming illustrations. Matthew 13:24-28, "The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away. When the wheat sprouted and formed heads, then the weeds also appeared. "The owner's servants came to him and said, 'Sir, didn't you sow good seed in your field? Where then did the weeds come from?' " 'An enemy did this,' he replied.”
Satan is always trying to plant seeds of fear in our heart. It’s by design. He would rather have you have faith in his fear than faith in God’s promises. Why? Because your faith is what brings forth its crop. When you allow weed seeds of fear to grow in your mind and heart - fear, discouragement, and hopelessness is the crop you will reap. Consequently, you have to work to keep out things you do not want in there. You have to dig up what shouldn’t be there and cast it out! What does a heart with weed seeds planted in it look like? Jeremiah 17:5-6 reveals this saying, “This is what the Lord says: "Cursed are those who put their trust in mere humans and turn their hearts away from the Lord. They are like stunted shrubs in the desert, with no hope for the future. They will live in the barren wilderness, on the salty flats where no one lives.”
When you plant good seeds planting them in good soil (a heart that loves and trusts God and puts faith and expectation in His promises) then you will reap a good crop. Hosea 10:12 (NLT) says, “I said, 'Plant the good seeds of righteousness, and you will harvest a crop of my love. Plow up the hard ground of your hearts, for now is the time to seek the Lord, that he may come and shower righteousness upon you.”
What does a good crop from your heart look like? Jeremiah 17:7-8 (NLT) describes it like this: ‘But blessed are those who trust in the Lord and have made the Lord their hope and confidence. They are like trees planted along a riverbank, with roots that reach deep into the water. Such trees are not bothered by the heat or worried by long months of drought. Their leaves stay green, and they go right on producing delicious fruit.”
My gardening reminds me what I should meditation on – on God’s promises in the spirit of faith, and what I should not allow in my heart – the circumstances that pop up daily that are weeds of fear that try to undermine my faith. I dig them out and cast them into a pile to be burned or discarded. If I keep my heart good soil, and profess and pray God’s promises over my life and others, I will see my harvest and I will become like that tree planted by the river that stays green and is not bothered by heat or long months of drought.
God’s Word is our riverbank for our roots to go down into. Remember today that the promise He promised you is this: Deut. 28:6-7 (NLT) “You will be blessed wherever you go, both in coming and in going. The Lord will conquer your enemies when they attack you. They will attack you from one direction, but they will scatter from you in seven! How is that for sinking your roots into?
In His Love,
Pastor Tim Burt
http://readfreshmanna.blogspot.com
Published by Pastor Tim Burt
Copyright© 2008 Tim Burt, All rights reserved.
"a merry heart doeth good like a medicine" Prov 17:22
