The Weeds

Have you ever had that “Aha!” moment when you come to a realization of why you have behaved in a certain way? It has been some time since I have posted a blog, and the realization of the reason for that has come as a huge surprise to me. There have been many changes happening in my life in the past few months which have taken my attention from my writing and, honestly, my relationship with God. I knew I had felt distant from Him, but I didn’t know where that was coming from until just a few days ago. I continued to try to spend time with Him each morning, continued to read my Bible, continued to pray, but I noticed that the time with Him was constantly interrupted with worldly interruptions, my reading became more about finishing my Bible in a Year program than about understanding Him better, and my prayers became more about my begging Him to conform to my plans; the more I tried to focus and listen for His voice, the bigger the distractions were, and the further I felt from it and from Him. I wanted Him to hear me, to respond to me, to comfort me, but He seemed so silent. I was confused – why did He leave me? I had to consider the bigger question: was it Him, or was it me?

I was at a dinner function a short while ago listening to Pastor Chip Ingram talk about some of Jesus’ parables and the worldly temptations that those parables symbolize. In listening to Pastor Chip, and in doing my own reflecting, I realized that Jesus’ parable about the weeds in Matthew 13:24-30 was exactly what seemed to be happening in my life. This parable is about a man who sowed good seed in his field, but while he and his men were sleeping, the enemy came and sowed weeds among his good seed. The weeds began to grow among the good grain. Was this what was happening to me? For years, I have been focused on what I believe Jesus is calling me to do, working diligently to be fruitful in my ministry and in my work. I have been overwhelmed at the healing that has happened in the lives of the people Jesus brought to me, and how He continues to use me as a tool to reach his hurting children. And then, it seemed like things changed abruptly, my relationship with Jesus was distant, and I didn’t like it.

As I write this, I am sitting on a plane heading to Zanzibar, Africa, for a mission trip to train locals and work with people in their trauma. I know that this is a trip and a mission that I have been called to do – God has been very clear with me on that for over a year. I have been deep in preparation for this trip for a few months, and as I look back, when I began to prepare for this was when all this distraction enticed me to turn my eyes from Jesus to the desires of my flesh. How did I miss this work of the enemy? The more I begun to reflect on what has happened over the past few months, the more I recognized the work of the enemy to distract me from this important mission I am embarking on.

The devil does not want us to do Kingdom work, so he will use whatever means he needs to use to distract us from our work. He uses our weaknesses, the things that he knows can be that temptation that will take our eyes off Jesus. Those weaknesses are our weeds. We must understand, though, that the weeds are not always “ugly,” or appear poisonous. The weeds can be good things that we allow to become idols. Going to work is not a bad thing; in fact, Scripture is clear that working is important. But if our work begins to be the thing that takes our eyes off Jesus, then it is a weed. Our relationships are not bad things; but when they take precedence over time with the Lord, they become a weed. Our ministry is a good thing; but when it becomes a source of pride, or the thing that distracts us from our relationship with the Lord, it is a weed.

Matthew 22:37-38 says, “You shall love the Lord your God with all you heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment.” Yet, somehow, sometimes we are caught off-guard and we depart from our first love. Matthew 6:24 says it best, “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.” Or another person before God, or pride of a ministry over God…It has to be God first.

So, let us look around in our lives…what, or who, are the weeds that threaten to overwhelm the good fruit? Can you recognize the distractions that are keeping you from being in a solid relationship with our Lord?

Let’s pay attention to what James 4:7 says, “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” The devil wants to overwhelm you with weeds.