Putting Hope To Work

I’ve been talking about weeds in the garden.  Not my flower beds, nor in my vegetable garden.  After eight years of springtime chutzpah – fearlessly daring my shade-filled yard to produce vegetables for me – I have finally been beaten.  I actually tilled under the garden this summer.  I have accepted defeat and will be replanting grass next spring.  But I digress.

I’m talking about weeds in the “Garden Spot” of the soul.  That place/space where the human spirit and the Holy Spirit reside together.   

And how did I get weeds?  Especially after working so hard to replant Word-Seed in recent years – guarding my mouth to speak words of hope and faith (instead of fear and doubt), filling myself with the Word of God to the point that when I get poked or squeezed, it is Scripture (not cuss words) that come to mind?  

I think familiarity has a lot to do with it.     Several years ago, when I was learning about the power of words … and more specifically the power of speaking Gods Words out of mouth, I was a voracious student.   I had a few note books going, and whenever I found a Scripture of promise that I wanted to hold onto (wanted to remember and find easily), I write it out in one of my notebooks for quick reference.

I created notebooks for Scriptures related to health and healing.

I created notebooks for Scriptures related to provision and the blessing of God.

I created notebooks for Scriptures that had quick reference guides to specific topics, so that when I felt pressured, I could just go grab one of these notebooks and quickly feed myself on Scripture after Scripture, and Promise after Promise.  And no time flat, my faith was built up and I’d be right back on top again.

But over time, those little notebooks became familiar.   Once they were completed (no more room to add to them), they got picked up less and less often.  Eventually, they had other books stacked on top of them.  

It’s the way of things, isn’t it.   In 2016-2017 I lost 33.5 lbs on Weight Watchers.   I celebrated last Christmas at my lowest weight in recent memory – I even brought my own “WW friendly” deserts to Christmas dinner (they were horrible! LOL).  But by 2018, WW had become routine, common, and familiar.  I thought I had it all figured out and mastered.    By spring 2018, I was up a few pounds … but hey, I was still within range of goal.  It wasn’t that big a deal.  By summer, a few more.  Hmmm.   And here we are, 12 months and 10 lbs later.  Geez!!!  

In 2015, I was praying at the start of every work day, desperately seeking God’s blessing upon my efforts because I desperately needed His blessing upon my “barely-making-enough-to-pay-the-light-bills” little company.   Throughout 2015 and 2016, He regularly spoke to me, giving me instruction for how to “water walk” out on the deep waters with Him.   Unfortunately, by 2017, more often than not I walked into my office and just dove into the demands of the day.  Oh, I still recognized God as the CEO of the business, and knew that His favor was the only reason that I was enjoying the success I was seeing.   But I also had work to do.    (can you hear the stupidity of this reasoning?)

And here we are … the end of 2018 … and just like with Weight Watchers, or my Golds Gym membership, or with those live-giving business practices I had once been doing … I’m now seeing that I’ve lost momentum.  I’ve lost ground.  I’ve lost victory.  I’ve lost because I’ve not been tending my garden!!!

Praise you Lord for revealing to me these little weed patches that have sprung up throughout 2018.  Give me wisdom and courage to do the work of yanking them up by the roots, and re-seeding these areas with diligence of faith.    And as I begin vision-casting for 2019, help me lay the groundwork for establishing patterns and habits, familiar or new,  that will carry me through 2019-2020 with strength and vitality and Your blessing upon every area of my life. 

I’m Your’s Lord.  It’s Your day.  Have Your way.