By Michele Eich
We had just moved into our new house on five rolling acres, and I was excited to have some friends come over for lunch out in our gazebo. Naturally, I wanted everything to be perfect from the meal, to matching plates, and a sparkling house. The kiddos were bribed/threatened to clean their rooms and be on their best behavior. The incident where my two youngest got in a wrestling match in front of our pastor’s wife was still fresh in my mind, so I was definitely doling out the “mom looks” multiple times that morning.
As I was putting the finishing touches on the table, I looked down and noticed some ugly weeds springing up amongst the beautiful flowers the previous owners had planted. I knew my company would be arriving any moment, so I ran in the house and grabbed some scissors. I walked outside with them and clipped off the nasty little invaders and smoothed out the dirt. There, that looks better, I thought.
We all know that I didn’t kill the weeds. They were lurking under the surface ready to pop back up and even multiply. My quick fix to make things look better didn’t make them better. This is a great life lesson for us. When we don’t get to the roots of the issues that plague us, situations may look better for a bit, but it is only a matter of time before the problems will resurface with a vengeance.
When we invite Jesus into our lives, He is really good at pulling weeds out by the roots. When the destructive roots go, everything attached to them dies, too. Read that again.
For many years, I had a nasty root parked right in my heart, and it did not want to budge. This root was called rejection. It produced some nasty fruit in my life, such as low self-esteem, anorexia, people pleasing, co-dependence, fear, and looking for love in all the wrong places. (Some of the pictures of me with overly permed hair and old flames are cringe worthy. Thankfully there was no social media back then!) Like many people, I tried to manage the bad fruit by myself. I put perfume on it, tried to clip it off, hide it, and more. Can I sum up all of this in one word? Exhausting!
When Jesus dealt a death blow to the root of rejection that had taken hold of my heart, He didn’t stop there. Jesus then replaced that root with His unconditional love and acceptance. Furthermore, He promised never to leave or forsake me. We throw around the term “life-changing,” but let me assure you, this totally changed my life. Good-bye bad fruit and hello healed heart!
Sweetheart, I see you. Like me, you are trying to clip off the tips of the weeds to make things look better on the surface, but they keep coming back time and time again. I want to encourage you today to invite Jesus into this process. Let Him at the roots that are producing this unwanted fruit in your life. He is incredibly gentle yet powerful. As you walk with Him, Jesus will tend to the garden of your heart beautifully.
This is what Isaiah prophesied about Jesus:
The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me,
because the Lord has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim freedom for the captives
and release from darkness for the prisoners,
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor
and the day of vengeance of our God,
to comfort all who mourn,
and provide for those who grieve in Zion—
to bestow on them a crown of beauty
instead of ashes,
the oil of joy
instead of mourning,
and a garment of praise
instead of a spirit of despair (Isaiah 61: 1-3 NIV).
In this passage, the phrase “bind up the brokenhearted” means to wrap them up, bandage them, bind them back together. How many of us could benefit from this kind of heart-care by the Master Physician?
Jesus is also the ultimate Gardener, and He knows how to tend to our broken hearts. The problem is that we have often been hurt, disappointed, and rejected so many times that our ability to trust has been shattered. I experienced this myself and remained in bondage longer than I needed to. Jesus was patient with me, and He proved Himself to be faithful and trustworthy time and time again. The more I got to know Him, the more open I was to the heart healing that I so desperately needed.
When it comes to pulling weeds, I have learned a secret. Drench the plants with water, and the weeds are much easier to remove. We can apply this lesson to our walk with God. When we drench our hearts with Living Water, Jesus, the roots will slide right out. Then we can produce fruit that remains with Him.
Psalm 147:3 NIV perfectly sums up what God does: “He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.” That is His job, and He does it masterfully. What is our job? To let Him.
NOTE: Michele Eich is an author, speaker, certified growth coach, licensed minister, and the host of the show, Voices of Recovery. She and her husband, Lynn, have six amazing children and several fantastic grandchildren. They enjoy boating, traveling, and going on various adventures with their faithful golden retriever, Sunshine. To learn more about Michele or contact her, please visit: www.MicheleEich.com or www.20VoicesofRecovery.com.
