Today we present a guest blogger, Jayma Donnell of Nashville, TN. We enjoyed her personal story when she shared it with us, so we in turn wanted to share it with you. Enjoy!
I only meant to dig out the wild bushes in the flower bed. What started out as a small task lengthened considerably when I started ripping out all the weeds. I noticed how they were so deeply entrenched. It brought to mind that scripture passage about the weeds (or the tares) and others that refer to how deeply sin gets entrenched in our lives. Instead of just reading about it, I was seeing firsthand the stubbornness of weeds and the difficulty of ridding oneself of sin or obstacles – and how the two had become synonymous.
I pulled and shoveled, sweat rolling down my face, exerting all my strength to dislodge them. I experienced indeed how hard it is for that weed to be uprooted and became a woman obsessed – taking the shovel to all the weeds I couldn’t pull out by hand and clearing out every last weed as if my life depended on it.
For it was no longer just about the weeds – it was about cleansing myself and getting rid of all the sin and obstacles in my life. I was not content to stop until all of them were gone, as if it were a mission I had to accomplish that day and not wait – for the sin or obstacle would only grow if allowed to stay. It almost became a prayer (maybe it did) as if I was asking God to help me remove the obstacles in my life that were holding me back from becoming who He wants me to be. To let go of the lies, the despair, hopelessness and discouragement that I’d allowed to settle in like a winter’s cold. This weeding was a reawakening, of letting go and coming to life, of coming to the life that He has for me!!
And then the relief; the sense of completion and victory when all the weeds were gone. Not only were the weeds cleared but I felt as if my heart was too – as if I’d let go of some baggage I’d been hanging on to for too long. I met God in that flowerbed, and we had a frank talk, without saying a word, for He already knew what I was feeling in my heart and used the weed clearing as a way of giving me some clarity, encouragement, and hope into my situation. In my exhausted state, I looked down with a sense of pride at the newly tilled dirt, seeing it for what it was: weed-free, open, receptive, and felt like that was a description of how my soul felt.
Thank you God, for the victory that I already have in you! Thank you for reminding me of it.
When Jayma isn’t pulling weeds she can be found writing and hugging on her kitty Maggie.
