Lessons from the lowliest of places...

If you ride through my neighborhood, I am the crazy lady bent over the flowerbeds with my hiney up in the air like tacky plywood yard art. As funny as it may seem, I am not trying to be rude to my neighbors or passers by. I do not have an affliction that leaves me doubled over and I have not lost something.

I mean, come on…is there really any pretty way to pull weeds?

When a timber company comes in to clear land and they are not going to replant, they will leave a healthy tree every so far apart to reseed that piece of land naturally and eventually it does it’s job, dispersing seeds that in turn will become seedlings to repopulate the land.  I hate a sapling. There…I said it. I know they are necessary and inevitable, but to me they have come to symbolize sin not dealt with.

The spring that my world began to crumble there was an unusually high pollen count and along with this came an incredible number of saplings. I don’t know, maybe the number was the same as always and I had just never paid attention before. We lived on 90 acres of planted pines and hardwoods. It seemed that everywhere I turned there was another tiny pine popping up from the fertile soil around our house. Small, frail, tufts of green barely breaking through the dark rich ground or peeking through the straw in the flower beds consumed my moments spent out side.

In the months after I confessed my indiscretion and the months after finding out about the affair, during the time when I believed God was working to mend my marriage, God began to speak to me in these little saplings and in the multiple things around the house that needed to be repaired or taken care of. God began to show me how something so small could become so large if not tended to.  

Suddenly these tiny, spraggled tufts of green popping up in every inch of the yard consumed my moments. Every where I walked, like a crazed person, I needed to pluck them from the soil in which they were doing what saplings do…take root.

“Catch the foxes for us, the little foxes that spoil the vineyards, for our vineyards are in blossom.” Song of Solomon 2:15

Solomon in his wisdom spoke in Songs of Songs, “it is the little foxes that spoil the vineyards” He orders his men to hunt and destroy the foxes and bring them to him. In these little sprouts, barely able to cling to the ground, God showed me how quickly the little sins can take root and grow. I would look into the underbrush that would be burned off soon and God showed me how quickly these invasive little pines could become a mess of ground cover, entangling and snaring those who tried to walk through. How hidden dangers of the venomous snake and spider readily lurked in the disorder and chaos of the volunteer pines and oaks that quickly grew out of control in the unkept areas of the woods surrounding the house and cleared areas.

It was while pulling these small pines that seemed to replenish themselves with two for every one I removed, that God showed me how  the smallest, hidden sin remaining and not covered by grace could easily become out of control and how I had not done my part to cover my family in protection over the relentless pursuit of the enemy so that like this tiny green army, our territory had been invaded.

It was in this, the Holy Spirit showed me how my hidden sins of bitterness and selfishness so easily led me into a pit and how my husband’s seemingly innocent friendship escalated out of control so quickly and soon became a tool the enemy used to steal our joy, kill our marriage and destroy our family. A family once envied lay in shambles, at the feet of those who should have known how to prevent the enemy’s slaughter. A family in full blossom, entrusted with the gifts, talents and anointing of the Father, laid waste by an enemy’s snare that could have been prevented.

When my marriage was over and the children and I moved into town, the house I purchased was a repossession. The inside was a shamble and the yard had to be completely reclaimed.

As if the front hedges being overgrown were not enough, the back fence row had been untouched for years. Small trees, more saplings, weeds of many descriptions grew with wild abandon between my chain link fence and the wooden hurricane fencing that separated my little back yard from that of my neighbor. One of the very first purchases made was that of a hedge trimmer and a chainsaw.

For hours on end I would cut and hack away at the vines intertwined in the links of the metal fencing. Every few inches or so I would clip the thick encroaching vines and then painstakingly pull, tug and unwrap the vines choking this fence until finally after days of monotonous and toilsome labor the fence row was finally free from its captor. Sweat mixed with tears as the Holy Spirit showed me once again a valuable lesson as I ploughed through the work with calloused and bleeding fingers and palms.

With each tendril of vine that must be unwound to release its clutches from the fence, the Holy Spirit showed me a picture of how sin so easily ensnares us if we are not careful.

The vine removed, it was then time to tackle the root. There is no amount of pesticide, round-up or herbicide that will completely kill such parasitic flora, with the root still intact tiny shoots will soon emerge again to grasp and cling to what ever trellis it can find.

As it is with we mere mortals, a sin hidden, covered and unconfessed, be it by pride or shame, allows the enemy to ensnare us once again with tiny tentacles that slowly overtake us until it appears all hope is lost of being free.

When roots are mentioned in the Bible, it is usually in a context of good. We should be rooted in truth, in the Word, however if the root of evil is not dug up or conquered in our lives there is no place for the Word of God to take root. Just as a weed or clinging vine will do, sin not fully surrendered will slowly ensnare us and choke the very breath of life from our spiritual lives.

Once again, I am back in yet another yard. This time I battle oak seedlings. On any given day you will see me bent over the ground, slowly and deliberately pulling the tiny green shoots from the ground until the germinated acorn along with its quickly growing root is out of the ground and into a trash can. Obsessesing,  once again over the smallest of enemies. Trying to fighting tirelessly to remain ahead of the onslaught of  miniscule invaders which, left unattended, will quickly become a volunteer tree, deeply and firmly rooted into a harden ground, where plucking will no longer be the weapon of choice but more drastic tactics will be needed to rid my yard of their unwanted presence.

Again another lesson learned in the seemingly endless amounts of yardwork that comes with home ownership (Oh, how I wish Dublin had Condos that were affordable). We must remain on guard against sin in our lives. We cannot let the enemy get a foothold, we must arm ourselves for Holy battle and remain ever vigilant of the enemy’s tactics. I have heard it said many times in my life that “if the enemy is not fighting you then he has you”. This is so true.

Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed that he does not fall. No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it 1 Corinthians 10:12-13

We as the church must begin to teach spiritual warfare. The scriptures warn us that our enemy prowls like a lion, to and fro, seeking whom he may devour. I fully believe the time has come, we must know our enemy.

2 Timothy 3 (ASV)

3  But know this, that in the last days grievous times shall come. ² For men shall be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, haughty, railers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, ³ without natural affection, implacable, slanderers, without self-control, fierce, no lovers of good, ⁴ traitors, headstrong, puffed up, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God;⁵ holding a form of godliness, but having denied the power therefore. From these also turn away. ⁶ For of these are they that creep into houses, and take captive silly women laden with sins, led away by divers lusts,⁷ ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.

In 1299, prior to the Mongolian invasion of Europe, the Mongolian officers would often send scouts and spies into the mountainous areas surrounding the training grounds and battlefields of the European armies. Tediously studying the strategies and tactics of the opposing armies, for month on end, leaders such as Batu and Sabutai would infiltrate the European principalities with map makers, they established trade routes. Men would surmise the loyalties of each principality and even change the landscape to ensure swift and expedient demise of the foe. 

We have an enemy that is real. His intent is deliberate, intentional and cunning. That seemingly innocent glance or conversation, the little white lie, the lust hidden deep in the heart. Each a tiny acorn waiting to become a mighty oak. Each a tiny tendril of a clinging vine slipping its tentacles silently and slowly around our hearts and minds until the day of we become ensnared in the full entanglement of sin. 

"Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. 5"I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing. 6"If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire and they are burned John 15:5-6.

But there is a hope. There is a vine whose name is Jesus. Just as a vingneron grafts vines together for optimal fruit, we are grafted into Christ. He is the vine, we are the branches and in his embrace sin no longer has a death hold on us. Sin holds no condemnation for the heart fully surrendered to Christ. We must remain in Him to bear good fruit. We must abide in Him, for we can do nothing alone and if we abide in Him, He promises to lead, lead guide and direct us on the path that is good and just and leads to everlasting life.

As for me,   I will be pulling oak seedlings from my yard while abide in Him and with each one, I will say prayers of protection for my children, for their hearts, minds and souls to fulfill their purposes in Christ. I will say prayers of protection for my heart, mind and soul, thanking him for another chance to not only do better but to be His watchman on the wall and prevent the enemy from gaining any more ground in my family. I will say prayers for those who have meant to do me harm; that their hearts, minds and souls will align with the will of the Father. I will claim the promises that God has given me and, as I dispose of every unwanted seedling, I will reclaim a little of what the enemy stole from me. 

Yep, that will be me, on the corner lot, hind end turned up, most likely tears in my eyes, thanking God for lessons learned even in the lowest of places.

Abide in Me  Edgar Aguilar