Battles
With all the parables Jesus has been sharing lately in the readings, I could go lots of directions with this photo, couldn’t I?
A sower went out to sow…some seed fell on rich soil, and produced fruit…
The parable of the weeds sown among the wheat…
The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that a person took and sowed in a field… (Matthew Chapter 13)
Instead, I’m talking about battles.
This may look like a lush, green garden. But upon closer observation, it’s an overgrown, weedy, jungle of a garden. You see, I lost the battle with the garden this year. The picture I envisioned in my head back in March isn’t what you see here.
A picturesque border of dual-row flowers on three sides with vegetables in the center was my plan. Instead…well, I’ll let you be the judge. That wall of vegetation in the back is indeed enormous tomato plants left to grow to enormous proportions. The Japanese beetles and maybe a few other bug buddies have absolutely loved dining on the cabbage and Brussels sprouts in the middle. At least the zinnias and black-eyed Susans are a colorful distraction from the weeds.
So I lost a battle this summer.
But we all know that a battle like this is trivial. In the grand scheme of life, it’s at the bottom of the things that matter. Still, it’s a good reminder of what battles really need to be fought or attended to.
Like the battle for time for prayer. I’m the main person to blame for this losing battle. Setting aside time for prayer, especially in the summer, is harder for me. It takes a morning routine and actually putting things in my calendar to keep me on task.
The battle against being busy. You know this quote: “If the devil can't make you sin, he'll make you busy.”
The battle against distractions. Oh, let me count the ways! Have you ever found yourself being distracted from what you were just distracted by? My phone, my wandering mind, and my to-do list top my list of distractions.
The battle against thinking, “I’m not doing enough.” That’s where I need to return to the parable of the sower, with God sowing His Word among us. God is the one doing the real work. It’s not about getting more things done. Rest in the peace that a tilled garden doesn’t hold a candle to a tilled soul.
The battle against being busy is like sowing seed on the trampled path. However, we’re busy and we don’t take the time to tend to the seed, and it’s taken away by Satan.
The battle of distraction is like planting seed on rocky ground. Our focus on a good task begins, but we are distracted after a short amount of time because there are no roots or discipline against the distractions in our life.
The battle against thinking, “I’m not doing enough” is like sowing seed among the thorns. Worldly expectations and the secular chains of productivity choke the “being still and knowing He is God” (Psalm 46:10). This worldly battle consumed with doing more bears no eternal fruit.
“But the seed sown on rich soil is the one who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and yields a hundred or sixty or thirtyfold.” (Matthew 13:23)
As I approach the final weeks of summer, I’m going to try to focus on the battles that need to be fought, the ones that are most important. Lord, let my soul be fertile ground, not a trampled path, not rocky ground, and not filled with thorns. I know you can do a better job of tilling my soul than me (and my SOIL, obviously!). I just need to allow you to be the gardener.