Corona Devo 1995

We have a peach tree in our front yard but this year wasn't a great year for peaches. Last year we probably got about 80 peaches off of the tree, but this year, we only picked about ten.  For us, it just wasn't a good season for peaches.

My husband has a beautiful garden every year and usually we reap tomatoes in all sizes: cherry tomatoes, plum tomatoes, Big Boy fat and round tomatoes.  But this year wasn't a good harvest for tomatoes in our yard.  We've hardly had any to pick. 

Zucchini is one of my favorite vegetables.  I can make desserts that taste like apple pie, breakfast breads and savory suppers--all out of zucchini.  But it wasn't a good year for zucchini in our garden, so we haven't enjoyed any recipes with it yet. 

However--Guess what it's been a good year for in our garden?  Guess what has come in more robustly and prolifically than any other year, says our gardener (my husband)?   

Weeds. 

It's been a very good year for weeds in our yard and garden, and it seems they are always in season.

Funny how that works, isn't it? --Our crops are not having a good year, but our weeds are. 

That is exactly how our faith feels sometimes, isn't it?  We till the soil of our hearts by reading the Bible.  We pray to God and praise Him, and earnestly seek to serve Him.  We do our best to honor Him as best as we can with our hearts and lives.

And yet, the cancer comes.  The loved one passes.  The slander slices us.  The evil one creeps into our sacred spaces and does his best to upset the applecart of our marriages, families, work-teams and even our churches.

The weeds of life will creep in and pop up in our lives...always.  We can count on that--it is the (sin) nature of our broken world.   But when they do (and they will), we have to know how to thwart the weeds.

“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

My husband isn't surprised when he goes out and sees the weeds in his garden...he just knows that he has to get down on his knees and start pulling them out from the roots. 

We shouldn't be surprised about the struggles and trials and even devastations that we face here on this earth, but we do need to know how to navigate through them.  We need to get down on our knees and ask God for His help, direction, and hope.  Afterall, He reminds us that He has overcome the world, and with our faith and trust in God, we too can overcome the "weeds" that we are facing today.  

Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! (5) Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. (6) Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. (7) And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.  ~Philippians 4:4-7

If we are feeling like it has been a bad year for harvests in our life, but a great year for weeds...hang in here today.  

Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.  ~Galatians 6:9

God is not done with us/our situation/or our future...and with the Lord--we can have victory over whatever lack we are experiencing.  

But thank God! He gives us victory over sin and death through our Lord Jesus Christ.  ~I Corinthians 15:57

The Lord has given us victory over our sin through our Lord Jesus Christ, but our Lord has also given us victory over the brokenness and trials that spring up in our lives as a result of the weeds of worldly sin.  The weeds will come.  They will seek to choke our harvest, our joy, our hope.  But thank God! He gives us victory over sin and death through our Lord Jesus Christ (I Corinthians 15:57).

~~~

The weeds of life are constant, consistent, and unrelenting.  We (as God's children) till His soil.  We seek the harvest and we desire the bounty...and sometimes we reap it, but always, there are weeds. 

Stay encouraged today, Sons and Daughters of the King.  Let's stay focused on our service to our King and our service to His Kingdom, and let's trust that the harvest will come.  

And if we are knee-deep in the weeds today, we can sink to our knees and know that our Heavenly Father hears us.  He alone knows the plan for our life, but we can trust Him that it is for our good (Jeremiah 29:11).  Weeds or no-weeds today, we can praise God, and we should.

Even though the fig trees have no blossoms, and there are no grapes on the vines; even though the olive crop fails, and the fields lie empty and barren; even though the flocks die in the fields, and the cattle barns are empty, (18) yet I will rejoice in the Lord!  I will be joyful in the God of my salvation!  (19) The Sovereign Lord is my strength!  He makes me as surefooted as a deer, able to tread upon the heights.  ~Habakuk 3:17-19

It might not be a good year for peaches or zucchini, but it is always a good year for our Lord's plan and  purposes, and we can have faith that He is always working, in spite of the weeds in our lives, and possibly through them.  

Weeds or no weeds today.... 
Harvest or no harvest today...
We are not giving up today.  

Let's sink to our knees and pull up the weeds by their roots, through prayer.  Our God is unchanging and our faith in Him today brings hope and the promise of our weed-free tomorrow.

I heard a loud shout from the throne, saying, “Look, God’s home is now among his people! He will live with them, and they will be his people. God himself will be with them.  (4) He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever.”  ~Revelation 21:3-4

Blessings, 

Sarah 

https://sarahsundy04.blogspot.com