Stop weeding the thistles? Really? I had this illustrated to me just this week. Guess I needed to hear it twice in order to sink in lol!
MY LESSON IN THISTLES #1
This is a picture of our garden – well, what was supposed to be our garden. This year ‘life’ happened and we never got a chance to plant it. Oh well. Life is good. So we are giving the land a rest I guess.
For Mother’s Day my two youngest gave me a lavender plant. I would love to raise lavender and plant a whole field of it. So I went to the library and did some research. It does grow here in WI, but it is kind of picky about soil. Anyway, about a month ago I took the small potted plant and put it up in the garden area. I thought hey, it will sink or swim, right? I didn’t go check it. I didn’t even go water it. God – if you want it to grow, it will grow. I left it alone for about a month, well ok, two.
Two days ago I went to see if it made it or not. I really wasn’t expecting it to grow. After all, I didn’t do anything to help it. Can you imagine my surprise when I saw this?
Not only had it grown it had tripled in size! Despite all the thistles growing around it. Despite all my lack of attention – it still grew! I guess God really does know how to make things grow – even when I don’t cooperate!
MY LESSON IN THISTLES #2
We have these hostas that we got from my mother-in-law about 8 years ago. When I first got married, we planted 
some at our church, then it was Summit Baptist. Bob and I got married at that church a while back too. We fed and watered them while we went there. Long story short, the Pastor left to go to another church in TX, and the church closed. It was vacant for 3 years. Bob and I moved to another town, and hooked up with some old friends and started with JAM (Janesville Apostolic Ministries) about a year ago. Another long story, short – JAM bought the old Summit Baptist Building. Yeah – really!
And guess what – the hostas were still there. Again, they have been ignored for at least 3 years. They were very overgrown with weeds so the boys thought they would kill the weeds. They bought the spray stuff and sprayed around the hostas. Some of the weed killer leeched in the soil and some of the good hostas died. And many were damaged. All because we were trying to kill the weeds. Overkill the weeds and the good ones get hurt too.
I wonder how that applies to us and our church family? Hmmmm…I remember a good book and a great story…
He told another story. “God’s kingdom is like a farmer who planted good seed in his field. That night, while his hired men were asleep, his enemy sowed thistles all through the wheat and slipped away before dawn. When the first green shoots appeared and the grain began to form, the thistles showed up, too.
“The farmhands came to the farmer and said, ‘Master, that was clean seed you planted, wasn’t it? Where did these thistles come from?’
“He answered, ‘Some enemy did this.’
“The farmhands asked, ‘Should we weed out the thistles?’
“He said, ‘No, if you weed the thistles, you’ll pull up the wheat, too. Let them grow together until harvest time. Then I’ll instruct the harvesters to pull up the thistles and tie them in bundles for the fire, then gather the wheat and put it in the barn.’” (Matthew 13: 24-30 MSG)
MY LESSON LEARNED:
Stop weeding the Thistles Diana.
Stop worrying about all the people in your life that are bristly and not doing what they should be doing.
God has this under control.
It is His garden girl.
He is the Master Gardener.
Jesus is the vine.
God gets to weed His own garden.
It is not my job to weed them out.
Trust God and focus on the lavender – it will bloom, and you will get 30,60, 100 times over in the harvest.
Thank you Jesus!
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Oh this is a good lesson for me too, Diana! Thank you for sharing!
thank you Debbie – have a blessed weekend!
Diana
Luke:
Jesus (with another parable): 3-4 Wouldn’t every single one of you, if you have 100 sheep and lose one, leave the 99 in their grazing lands and go out searching for the lost sheep until you find it? 5 When you find the lost sheep, wouldn’t you hoist it up on your shoulders, feeling wonderful? 6 And when you go home, wouldn’t you call together your friends and neighbors? Wouldn’t you say, “Come over and celebrate with me, because I’ve found my lost sheep”? 7 This is how it is in heaven. They’re happier over one sinner who changes his way of life than they are over 99 good and just people who don’t need to change their ways of life.
1 Peter:
“All people are like grass,
and all their glory is like the flowers of the field;
the grass withers and the flowers fall,
25 but the word of the Lord endures forever.”[c]
And this is the word that was preached to you. Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind. 2 Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, 3 now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.
Diana,
Continue to abide with the sheep who are not lost. Continue to be Gods’ grass or God’s flower. Seek, find and guide those the Great Shepherd gives you.
Continue to be Gods’ grass or God’s flower.
Water, feed, clothe and love those God gives you, for when you do this for the littlest of these you do it for Him!
You may remember that I commented on your “Not my circus, not my monkeys” post.
Since then, I can happily celebrate with you, my neighbor, that my wife, my lost sheep has come a long way back to The Great Shepherd, me and the sheep who are not lost!
She told me she loved me yesterday for the first time in years and she stopped withholding for the first time in almost two years!
Though we will all wither and fall, the Word of the Lord endures forever, and we with Him!
Thanks and Salt, love, Jason
Hallelujah! Thank you Jesus. God is so good sometimes he just floors me! Thank you my friend for you kind words. God promised us all that salvation is for us and our families – whether they know it or not yet…God is greater – and I am grateful! That is such great news! Diana