dandelions...
She ran up to me with fists full of dandelions and exclaimed, "Look at these beautiful flowers I picked for you, Mom!" She was so proud of the tiny bouquet in her little dirt covered hands. I didn't have the heart to tell her those were weeds and not flowers. After all, the area from which they were selected was full of ugly green weeds, so in comparison, they did appear to be beautiful flowers. And, to a three year old, any plant with a little color is categorized as a flower. "They are lovely, sweet girl. Thank you so much for picking them for me!" She gave me a quick hug and then headed back the same direction from which she came. There was a plethora of dandelions for the picking, and she was a girl on a mission.
God, the ultimate gardener, planted a paradise in the east and named it Eden. The first garden. And it was beautiful. Perfect. Weed free. He put a man there, Adam, and his job was to be gardener. Tend to the plants. Care for them. Enjoy them. I mean how much work could it take when working in perfection? I have a feeling most of Adam's work consisted of picking fruit, maybe some pruning, but for certain no weed pulling. A gardener's dream.
But the fall happened and as paradise slipped away, the Lord God said, "Cursed is the ground because of you... it will produce thorns and thistles for you." (Genesis 3:18) And when Adam and Eve arrived at his new residence, yard work looked completely different as he bent over, back aching, pulling those wretched weeds from the ground.
We can certainly relate. Every evening, as we walk through our neighborhood, we take notice of the yards. Some of them are nice, some of them are bare, and some of them are unruly. Some are overrun with weeds while others are manicured to attempted perfection. But the little one, she doesn't notice the weeds or the grass. Our dandelion lover stops at every budding bush to fill her nose with the sweet scent of nature. The rose bushes are her favorite, but she'll stop just the same to smell of flowers which aren't know for their scent. We'll say, "Those don't smell," implying that they don't have a strong scent or a pleasant one. She'll reply, "Yes, they do! They smell!" No matter how unruly or ragged a bush looks, if she spots a flower on it, it is automatically beautiful in her eyes.
I see weeds all around me. The roots of sin sprouting everywhere, metaphorically speaking. I see the results of the fall so clearly, too clearly at times. There is no hiding it. In fact, it's often being praised and celebrated. The fallout. The falling away. It feels overwhelming, too. Probably how Adam and Eve felt when they stepped right out of that garden. From perfection to destruction. From light to dark. From holy to hate-filled. It's a stark contrast and it is so easy to get lost in the weeds. But even though the weeds are so prevalent, God's goodness is everywhere, too. Present in the same places if we're just willing to look for it. If we're willing to lift our eyes off of the ground and up a bit. His beauty is surrounding us regardless of whether or not we know it. We just need the eyes to see it. We may see it in the rose bush or the robin. Or maybe in the smile of a stranger or a warm hug of a friend. His beauty is on display in helping hands, in tender hearts, in generous gestures, in each sunrise and sunset, and most clearly in His Holy Word.
God, the ultimate gardener, planted a paradise in the east and named it Eden. The first garden. And it was beautiful. Perfect. Weed free. He put a man there, Adam, and his job was to be gardener. Tend to the plants. Care for them. Enjoy them. I mean how much work could it take when working in perfection? I have a feeling most of Adam's work consisted of picking fruit, maybe some pruning, but for certain no weed pulling. A gardener's dream.
But the fall happened and as paradise slipped away, the Lord God said, "Cursed is the ground because of you... it will produce thorns and thistles for you." (Genesis 3:18) And when Adam and Eve arrived at his new residence, yard work looked completely different as he bent over, back aching, pulling those wretched weeds from the ground.
We can certainly relate. Every evening, as we walk through our neighborhood, we take notice of the yards. Some of them are nice, some of them are bare, and some of them are unruly. Some are overrun with weeds while others are manicured to attempted perfection. But the little one, she doesn't notice the weeds or the grass. Our dandelion lover stops at every budding bush to fill her nose with the sweet scent of nature. The rose bushes are her favorite, but she'll stop just the same to smell of flowers which aren't know for their scent. We'll say, "Those don't smell," implying that they don't have a strong scent or a pleasant one. She'll reply, "Yes, they do! They smell!" No matter how unruly or ragged a bush looks, if she spots a flower on it, it is automatically beautiful in her eyes.
I see weeds all around me. The roots of sin sprouting everywhere, metaphorically speaking. I see the results of the fall so clearly, too clearly at times. There is no hiding it. In fact, it's often being praised and celebrated. The fallout. The falling away. It feels overwhelming, too. Probably how Adam and Eve felt when they stepped right out of that garden. From perfection to destruction. From light to dark. From holy to hate-filled. It's a stark contrast and it is so easy to get lost in the weeds. But even though the weeds are so prevalent, God's goodness is everywhere, too. Present in the same places if we're just willing to look for it. If we're willing to lift our eyes off of the ground and up a bit. His beauty is surrounding us regardless of whether or not we know it. We just need the eyes to see it. We may see it in the rose bush or the robin. Or maybe in the smile of a stranger or a warm hug of a friend. His beauty is on display in helping hands, in tender hearts, in generous gestures, in each sunrise and sunset, and most clearly in His Holy Word.
"One thing I ask of the Lord,
this is what I seek:
that I may dwell in the house of the Lord
all the days of my life,
to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord
and to seek him in his temple.
For in the day of trouble
he will keep me safe in his dwelling;
he will hide me in the shelter of his tabernacle
and set me high upon a rock...
I am still confident of this:
I will see the goodness of the Lord
in the land of the living."
Psalm 27:4-5 & 13
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