I am a garden fanatic. I love to buy plants. Come to think about it, maybe I am just a shopping fanatic and flowers are just a pretty outlet. Anyway, my garden is kind of my baby and each year I go to the garden center to find many flowers to fill my empty soil. This year I planted all kinds of things like morning glories, verbena, zinnia and lots of herbs. They are all just gorgeous and the smell of the herbs is amazing.
I work from home part time, home school one of my kids and do all of my mom/wife duties from my house so basically I see my house like a big work pit! I am easily stressed out by this so I like to go outside just to get some fresh air, sun and enjoy the fruits of my labor, my flowers. The other day I was outside trying to de-stress and I really felt like the Lord was trying to teach me “The Parable of the Pretty Flowers.” I kind of felt like it was a foreshadowing time too. I do not think I have any prophetic gifts or anything like that because all moms know that mid-August, the proverbial temperature on the stove warms up. Things are about to start happening and before you know it, you blink and the year is ending with a pool party at someone’s house. It is just a busy time of the year and it does not let up until school is out.
As I was looking at my pretty rock-bordered flower bed, I realized that some of my herbs and a few of my other pretty flowers and vines were trying to take over. I had worked hard at training my vines to go a certain direction. A few days had passed since I corrected their course and they were going all over the flower garden. My herbs that are known for taking over were covering up some of my other pretty purple flowers, blocking any hope of getting the sun that they need. I realized that my garden was starting to get out of hand. It had only been a few days and things were beginning to get wild.
The Lord spoke to me through this and reminded me that this is what my life garden could look like this year. There will be lots of pretty things come my way and lots of beautiful opportunities, but I need to manage “my garden” well. God has given us only so much time in a day, a perfect 24 hours. It only takes a couple of days with my eyes off of the goal to let my garden go wild. It can be pretty for a little while, but then some of my other pretty flowers get covered up. Before I know it, my garden is full of wild vines and possibly even weeds. How will you manage your life garden this year? Are you prepared to say no to the many pretty things that might take over your garden? Throughout the year, take an account of your garden. Are there flowers (like our sweet kids) that are not getting enough nurturing and sunlight because they are covered up with other “great” opportunities?
Take into account these verses as you till your soil and plant your flowers this school year.
Proverbs 15:28a (NIV)
The heart of the righteous weighs its answers
Proverbs 16:2 (NIV)
All a man’s ways seem innocent to him,
but motives are weighed by the LORD.
This was REALLY good (but very hard to read on that brown background). I got so much out of this parable posting. You were given the perfect way to describe what happens when you allow things to get in the way of what you should be doing – thank you! It opened my eyes to some things in my own life that I need to go back and dig up (weeds) and tend (calling).
Great devotion. The Lord spoke to me through your devotion by reminding me that if I don’t get in my quiet time with Him things can get outta hand. I love your devotions!