Weeding.  Do you do it?

I was a professional weeder.  I was paid to weed.  I was paid to mow lawns, and week wack, and prune, and lay sod, and plant shrubs and flowers.  I landscaped every summer between years at university.  That’s how I paid for my degree.

We would sometimes be called into properties that hadn’t done any yard maintenance in years.  They were leased houses, with the proviso that the tenant would take care of the lawn and gardens.  The lease term was about the come to a close and the tenant had to get the yard into shape.

I remember coming to one house that had grass so tall we couldn’t cut it with the lawn mower.  We had to cut it down with a scythe, then mow it multiple times until it looked like a lawn and not a wild prairie wheat field.

The gardens were indistinguishable from the lawn.  The lawn had slowly encroached on the beds and overtaken the plants.  And, other weeds had grown up in the gardens and choked out the shrubs and flowers.  It was impossible to get rid of the weeds and not do irreparable damage to the plants.

There seems to be no short cut to getting rid of weeds in gardens.  You simply have to get down on the ground and pull them out.  Sometimes you even have to dig them out.  It is always better to do regular weekly weeding to pull out the weeds that appear, than to let them mature and begin to take over the garden before extricating them.

If you don’t stay on top of your weeding by doing a little bit every week, then the weeds can very easily overtake your garden.  As they say,

“An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.”

Jesus knew a thing or two about weeds.  He told the parable about the sower of seed.  Some of the seed fell on the soil, but the weeds grew up around the seeds and choked it out.  He was talking about how the Word of God – the Truth – is sown in our lives, but can be rendered fruitless by weeds.

He explained that even though we may have the Truth deposited in us, it doesn’t produce anything.  Why?  We haven’t dealt with the weeds.  The weeds overwhelm the Truth and it doesn’t make any difference in our lives.

So what are the weeds that choke out the fruitfulness of God’s Word in us?

1. The worries of this world
2. The deceitfulness of riches
3. The desire for other things

That’s basically the culture we live in every day.  Our culture tells us what we really need is more money and more stuff and everything will be better.  Your worries would all be dealt with if you have more money.

Take note of the commercials on TV:  buy more stuff and make more money, so you can buy more stuff and spend more money.  There is a constant pressure to buy the latest and the greatest.  We can easily become dissatisfied with what we have, by seeing what we could have – and we covet.

We worry that we won’t have enough, we want what we don’t have, and we think everything would be better if we had more money.  Jesus said it’s this thinking that chokes out the fruitfulness of God’s Word in us.

Have you taken stock of your thoughts lately?  Do you worry?  What do you worry about?  Are you often dreaming about more, better, or other “stuff”?  Do you think that more money would make it all better?

Jesus said it’s that kind of thinking that kills the Truth in us and we become fruitless – no evidence of God’s Word in us.  We must repent from that kind of thinking and put our trust fully in God.  He is our provider, He is our source, He is our treasure, He is our peace.

What weeds do you need to pull out of your life?  Pulling out these cultural weeds should be an ongoing strategy.  Don’t let them to choke out God’s life in you.

Worries, stuff and money – it’s not the answer.  Jesus is the answer.

Mark 4:18

“Still others, like seed sown among thorns, hear the word; but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful.”

Philippians 4:6, 7

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

Philippians 4: 12, 13

“I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all this through him who gives me strength.”

1 John 2:16

“For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world.”

The grizzly was closing in on me.  Where did it come from?  It just appeared out of nowhere.  I was panicked.  Where could I go?  What could I do?  The fear gushing out of the deepest part of my chest felt like it would kill me, let alone what the bear would do.

At a death-inspired pace I sprinted into the only safe place I could find – a shopping mall.  As I ran for cover in and out of the stores the Grizzly continued to stalk me.  What does it want?  Why is it only pursuing me?

I made my way out of the mall and down into the parking area where I got into my car.  I raced out of the parkade with the bear in hot pursuit.  It caught up to me on the highway and began to ram into the side of my car.  It was trying to force me off the road.  What kind of bear is this?  What is it after?  Why is it relentlessly pursuing me?

And then I woke up.

What was that?  What kind of dream did I just have?

I asked the Lord about the dream.  I talked to some trusted friends to get their thoughts.  Here’s what I believe the Lord was saying to me…

“Don’t run away from the masculine strength and courage I have for you.  There is more in my heart for you than you realize.  Don’t run away from my purposes in your life.  Embrace the strength and courage I have for you.  It may terrify you, but I am with you.”

Over 25 years ago the Lord spoke that to me.  Anne gave me a 20 inch sculpture of a Grizzly bear I keep in my office.  It reminds me to embrace the masculine strength and courage I need to walk in the purposes the Lord has for me, and for others through me.

Yes, it takes strength and courage to partner with Jesus in the epic adventure of the Kingdom of God on earth as it is in heaven.

Neither you nor I can wholeheartedly partner with Jesus without choosing strength and courage.  Typically what He asks us to do with Him can be terrifying – or should I say “exhilifying”. (Exhilarating and terrifying).  The dreams He puts in your heart will scare you because without Him it’s impossible.

I read something this week that reminded me of this: the Lion Chaser’s Manifesto by Mark Batterson.  Lion Chasers are men who run into their fears.  They chase down opportunity.  Lion chasers wholeheartedly pursue the purposes of God.  Just like Benaiah son of Jehoiada, one of David’s mighty men, who went down into a pit on a snowy day and killed a lion.

I have not yet read Mark’s book, Chasing the Lion, but I love the manifesto:

“Quit living as if the purpose of life is to arrive safely at death. Run to the roar.
Set God-sized goals. Pursue God-given passions.
Go after a dream that is destined to fail without divine intervention.
Stop pointing out problems. Become part of the solution.
Stop repeating the past. Start creating the future.
Face your fears. Fight for your dreams.
Grab opportunity by the mane and don’t let go!
Live like today is the first day and last day of your life.
Burn sinful bridges. Blaze new trails.
Live for the applause of nail-scarred hands.
Don’t let what’s wrong with you keep you from worshiping what’s right with God.
Dare to fail. Dare to be different.
Quit holding out. Quit holding back. Quit running away.

Chase the lion.”

Take some time to digest this, it is rich with meaning and meat.

May we be men who embrace the strength and courage the Lord has invited us into.  May we not run away from what we find terrifying, but run into our fears knowing the Lord is bigger than that which intimidates and terrifies us.

Be strong and courageous.  The Lord your God is with you.  He is able to do more than you can imagine – way more.

If your dreams don’t scare you they’re not big enough.

Embrace your strength and courage, and Chase the Lion.

2 Samuel 23:20

“Benaiah son of Jehoiada, a valiant fighter from Kabzeel, performed great exploits. He struck down Moab’s two mightiest warriors. He also went down into a pit on a snowy day and killed a lion.”

1 Corinthians 16:13, 14

“Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong. Do everything in love.”

Joshua 1:9

“Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”

1 Timothy 6:11

“But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness.”

I love boating.  Perhaps I should clarify though: I love boating in good weather.  Good weather to me is when the ocean is flat and there’s no wind.  High winds and high seas are bad weather to me.

I’m not a sailor, I’m a power boater.  I’ve boated in good weather and I’ve boated in bad weather.  I definitely prefer the former.  Sure, the latter is exhilifying (exhilarating and terrifying), but I still prefer glassy water and non-existent wind.

We’ve been caught in some pretty brutal conditions.  We had 20-30 knot winds blowing at our stern, and a strong ebb tide crashing head-long into the wind whipped waves pushing us from behind.   Those conditions created high, sharp, white-capped waves moving faster than our boat could go.

The waves picked our 40’ boat up from the stern, threw us forward at a precarious angle until we came careening down the face of that wave and our bow crashed into the wave in front of us.  We then seemed to stall momentarily in the trough of the wave until another monster wave picked us up from behind and repeated the cycle over and over again.

Not pleasant.

My prayer was for Jesus to join us in the boat and calm the storm.  Or at least keep us alive until we reached port.

I thought about this situation recently when reading about the story of Jesus walking on the water.  As you know, the disciples were heading across the lake while Jesus got some alone time.  They were caught in winds blowing against them creating rough water, which made the going tough.

Jesus came walking by in the middle of the night.  This, of course, freaked them out because no one in human history had ever seen this before.  Peter responds to Jesus’ encouragement for them to take courage and not to be afraid, and asks Jesus if He wants him to come out and join Him.

Jesus says, “Come.”

Peter gets out of the boat and joins Jesus in the midst of the storm.  Amazingly, Peter walks on water too.  Then, his faith faltered when he focused on the storm instead of Jesus, and he began to sink.  Jesus saved him and asked,

“Why did you doubt?”

This has always bothered me a bit.  Peter was the only one who got out of the boat.  He actually walked on water for a while.  You have to love Peter’s boldness.  Why didn’t Jesus say,

“Way to go Peter!  You did it!  You walked on water!  Sure, you sunk at the end, but great job anyway!”

Jesus didn’t say that.  He actually chastised him – “You of little faith, why did you doubt?”

I don’t totally understand this interaction, but I think one thing we need to learn is that Jesus has high standards for us!  What we may think is a pretty good effort, He may be disappointed in – He knows who we are and what we can do in Him.  We need to ensure our standards are in-keeping with who Jesus is and who He says we are.

After this interaction Jesus and Peter get in the boat and the storm completely died down.

Two scenarios:  1. Jesus invites us to join Him in the storm.  2. Jesus gets in our boat and calms the storm.

I think this is a great picture of how Jesus invites us to live in Him.  When we’re caught in a storm of any kind (financial, relational, work, health, etc.) we predominantly ask Jesus to get in our boat and calm the storm.  And sometimes He does just that.

Other times I believe he invites us to discover Him in the storm.  He invites us to walk with Him through the storm.  He isn’t calming the storm.  The storm is part of His purposes in our life.

When you find yourself in a storm of sorts, make your first position to discover Jesus in the tempest.  Get out of your boat and join Jesus.  He can always calm the storm, but our goal needs to be Jesus, not the calm.

Walk with Him in and out of the boat.

Matthew 14:29-32

“’Come,’ he said.  Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, ‘Lord, save me!’  Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. ‘You of little faith,’ he said, ‘why did you doubt?’  And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down.”

Isaiah 43:2

“When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you.  When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze.”

Romans 8:35-39

“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written: ‘For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.’  No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

“When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness…”

Those famous words comprise the opening sentiments of the document that has become known as the “Declaration of Independence”.   This document was a declaration ratified by congress on July 4th, 1776 by the 13 founding states of the United States of America.  It went on to state 27 grievances those United States had against the King of Britain, which provided justified reasoning for the assertion of their independence from Britain.

Their decision was built on the belief, “That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government,”.  And, “…when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security,”

I thought of this document recently when I was having breakfast with a friend.  He shared something I thought was very profound.  He told me of his discovery of a deep desire for independence.  He realized that he had a natural propensity to live independently from God.

Most of us were raised to be independent.  In fact, this is lauded in our culture.  You’re successful and strong if you’re not dependent on anyone.  Independence is celebrated.

My friend shared how he had bought into this mindset like so many of us, but he had also transferred this into his walk with the Lord.  He was trying to live independent from God – only calling on Him when he needed Him.

He looked me in the eye and said,

“I see my tendency to live independent from God, but I want to live in dependence on God.”

Wow – what a profound declaration.

No more to live in my own strength,  No more to depend on my own abilities, my own resources, my own experiences.  No more living life my way.  No more of God’s will my way.

God is inviting us to make a “Declaration of In Dependence” – to live in dependence on Him.  To trust Him.  To believe what He says is true.  To obey Him when we don’t understand.  God’s will, God’s way.

“My hope is built on nothing less, than Jesus’ blood and righteousness.  I dare not trust the sweetest frame, but wholly lean on Jesus’ name. On Christ the solid rock I stand.  All other ground is sinking sand.  All other ground is sinking sand.”

This classic hymn is a beautiful Declaration of In Dependence.  When we choose to live in dependence on God we are building our life on the rock – anything else is sand.  Living independently from God we can gain the whole world, but lose our soul.

Dependence on God means crucifying ourselves and living in Him.  Our life is found only in Him – outside of Him there is no life.  He is the vine and we are the branch.  Our life is inextricably tied to Him.

Are you living independently of God, or in dependence on God?  The latter leads to life, the former to death.  If you’re not experiencing all the life you thirst for, perhaps you are living independently from God.  Dependence on God leads to the life we long for, but it begins with death to ourselves so we can live in Christ.

Make your Declaration of In Dependence.  Set your hope on Jesus’ blood and righteousness.  Wholly lean on Jesus’ name.  Stand on the solid rock of Jesus.

John 15:4, 5

“Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.”

Galatians 2:20

“I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.”

Matthew 7:26

“Everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act on them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand.”