The Goodness of God Part 1: How Will Your Garden Grow?

It is late April and, in Wisconsin, the layers of snow and ice have at last given way to green grass, budding trees and blooming daffodils. Thoughts turn toward the planting of flower beds, vegetable gardens, new trees and shrubs. Soil is prepared, seed is sown and plants are fed and watered. It is with the backdrop of Spring and the promise of refreshing, new life that I want to share this next post. It's the first in a series of messages about the goodness of God. These were received over the course of two weeks in March while I was home recovering from surgery. Even in the midst of physical issues, God is good!

The first one came early one morning when the Holy Spirit woke me up and began speaking to me about His goodness and about the good to be found in others. I listened in bed for a time but sensed there was more He wanted to reveal and I would have to get up to fully engage my "receiver". I made my way to the living room and sat down to continue the conversation. As we talked, the Lord revealed the following.

He began with reviewing the Parable of the Wheat and the Weeds (Matt 13:24-30):

²⁴ Here is another story Jesus told: “The Kingdom of Heaven is like a farmer who planted good seed in his field. ²⁵ But that night as the workers slept, his enemy came and planted weeds among the wheat, then slipped away. ²⁶ When the crop began to grow and produce grain, the weeds also grew.

²⁷ “The farmer’s workers went to him and said, ‘Sir, the field where you planted that good seed is full of weeds! Where did they come from?’

²⁸ “‘An enemy has done this!’ the farmer exclaimed.

“‘Should we pull out the weeds?’ they asked.

²⁹ “‘No,’ he replied, ‘you’ll uproot the wheat if you do. ³⁰ Let both grow together until the harvest. Then I will tell the harvesters to sort out the weeds, tie them into bundles, and burn them, and to put the wheat in the barn.’”

As I focused on this passage, the Lord began to gently dismantle some previous concepts I had built in my mind concerning it. He revealed that the wheat and the weeds Jesus spoke of in the parable did not represent godly and wicked people growing up together in the harvest field. It is not that some individuals are wheat and some are weeds. Rather, it is the wicked nature of the old man and the new godly man in Christ trying to rise up together in the same person. Both natures vying for position, trying to gain ground and grow. This is a condition that applies to all of us. 

In the parable, the weeds were not to be pulled out because that would create the risk of uprooting the wheat as well. The instruction to the workers in the field was to leave the weeds alone. They were not to give them any of their time, attention or energy. The Farmer assured them that, at the appointed time (harvest), He would deal with the weeds. He would separate and burn them and the wheat would be secured in His barn. 

Dear ones, that is the instruction of the Lord to us as well! We are His beloved children and His workers in the "field" of this world. We are not to focus on the weeds (the old man sin nature that was killed with Christ on the cross), but rather on the wheat (the new man in Christ that rose to life with Him in victory)! We pray & cry out for His Kingdom to come...this is "His Kingdom Come"! "The Kingdom of Heaven is like..." (v. 24). 

We are encouraged to use our precious time and energy to give purpose to, tend and emphasize the new man within us and draw it forth. As we engage in this activity, we increasingly ignore the weeds - the old sin nature. We are not to spend our time working on the "old man" - he's dead! (Rom 6:6-7) This is great news! Who really enjoys weeding anyway?!? God is so good to us! As we intentionally discover and nurture who we truly are in Christ, the habits of the old nature shrivel due to lack of attention and the "weeds" are rendered incapable of choking out the "wheat". It is from this place of learning and growing in how our loving Father sees us that everything in our life flows.

Tend to the wheat, the fruit of which is the Fruit of the Spirit (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control - Galatians 5:22-23). There will always be "weedy" things in our lives. The Lord doesn't promise us a weed-free life, but He does promise that, if we keep our focus on Him and the reality of Christ in us, we will grow, flourish and bear much fruit. 

“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33)

This is God's version of spiritual "Round-Up"! Very effective! The weeds will not take over!

“Then the master told his servant, ‘Go out to the roads and country lanes and compel them to come in, so that my house will be full." (Luke 14:23)

Every one of us has this option, this free will choice, to invite Christ into our lives and nurture His life in us because of what Jesus did on the Cross. It is withheld from one one! This is the Good News! As His children and "workers" in the harvest field, we are free to tend to the goodness of God - in ourselves and others - and watch His "barn" be filled!  

“Moses said, ‘Please. Let me see your Glory.’ God said, ‘I will make my Goodness pass right in front of you; I’ll call out the name, God, right before you.’” (Ex 33:18-19a)

Let the whole earth be filled with His glory!