It's the Little Things

I’m organized - like really, really organized.  I have a regular rhythm that I adhere to on most days.  Yet, there are “little” things that I put off in my regular rhythm because … well … they are little.  They aren’t big.  They don’t require a lot of energy.  They can be handled quickly.  But they just aren’t in my normal rhythm and I put them off.

What, pray tell, are these “little” things of which I speak?  Weeding my flowers is a great place to start.  I love being out in the yard, in the dirt, ripping out - with a controlled fierceness that sometimes surprises me - the weeds that invade my flower beds.  In the Spring, when temperatures are cool and my motivation is high, no weed goes untouched.  Just as it sprouts its ugly head, I’m on it like a bee on honey.  It doesn't stand a chance.

Yet, now in September, when the dog days of summer have bitten not only at my heels but also my motivation to pull those weeds, my flower beds suffer from inattention.  There are flowers and bushes barely visible underneath the intruders that have bullied their growth and my determination.  I know where the “good” stuff lies but the weeds take front and center.

I’ve known this for some time now.  When I’m in my sunroom, drinking coffee, writing, working, being still, I can see them.  I’ve watched them grow from a few to a multitude.  Now they mock me.  They know they’ve won.  I hate it.  Yet, I have not had the motivation to brave the heat or muster the determination to separate the good from the bad.  And so, I’ve  just let them run a muck.  

I finally decided to do something about them.  They’ve waved their victory flag in my face one too many times.  Armed with the knowledge that I would give one hour  to fight my foes and faced with the knowledge that I am hosting a family gathering that is fast approaching, I tackled the beast.

Again, my little weed problem has turned into a big weed problem.  I had to wear heavy duty garden gloves and pull out the industrial hedge clippers.  I pulled the less intimidating weeds first.  Then, I drew my attention to the biggest invaders.  A Botanist I am not, so excuse my rather cryptic description of the most predominant weed that has taken over my beds.  It started with an ordinary root that shot up through the ground with very little foliage.  However, it gained its momentum by growing thin vines that crept into every bush, flower, and small tree in its wake.  It didn’t discriminate.  It wound its little green vines around and under, through and over, up and out.  So clever this little vine, you have no idea its length, breadth, width or origin.

However, as most often I do, I began talking to the Holy Spirit while weeding.  Since He is with us always, I thought I’d consult Him.  He gave me the idea to start from the back of the beds.  What I began to notice was that the root of my pesky little green intruder was mostly located near the back.  When I clipped that root, and pulled, I was astounded!  Armloads of vine and other weeds that had become part of the mix came out as I continued to pull.  Armload after armload was creating quite a dent in my overgrown flower beds.  It wasn’t long before most of the unwanted species were out, leaving me a few extra visible larger weeds that I could easily snip with the bigger clippers.

What I thought would be a small dent in my large project, hard, and unsatisfying turned out to be way less arduous and way more easy and way more satisfying.  A few root attacks, a few armloads of unraveling vines and I was done. I was hot.  I was sweaty.  My legs were mosquito bitten.  I was dirty.  But my task was done.

As I was carrying my weeds to empty them in my compost area, I had this incredible revelation.  I had built up my task much larger in scope than it really was.  What looked like hours of work was not.  There’s a lesson here and one I wanted to process with the Holy Spirit.

Let me insert a little backstory here.  God is good.  I know that intellectually but I’ve experienced it firsthand.  God is good not because we see it in Christian media circles as slogans to be waved and hashtags to be given but because it's a universal, spiritual truth:  God is good!

God has always had a plan for His kids.  After Jesus, that plan included giving us the Holy Spirit to be a teacher, counselor, ever present companion.  Jesus, Himself, said that it was a good thing for Him to go (to heaven) because the Spirit would come.  And when the Spirit came, we got the secret weapon.  We got the special sauce.  We got the right help for us to accomplish the right things through the power of the Holy Spirit.

So when I refer to having a little consultation with the Holy Spirit while weeding, that’s a normal thing God’s kids get to do!  

Now, back to the lesson.

If you’ll remember, I was carrying my weeds to the compost area.  And, then I began to have a flood of revelation from the Holy Spirit about my own life in the pulling of my weeds.  

First, there’s a very practical application when it comes to doing the little things in my life that don’t fit into my regular rhythms.  When I put them off, they grow.  When they grow, the enemy lies to me about the energy, time - whatever is required of me - to get that little thing that has grown into a big thing accomplished.  That, in turn, makes me less motivated to tackle it.  And that, in turn, grows into a big thing when left unattended.

I can be like my Spring-self, that Gardener who is ever mindful of the sprouting of a weed and then takes immediate action when it comes to the little things.  By tackling them when I see them arise I eliminate the overgrowth.

Second, there’s another application that is a little more philosophical.  In the past, there are little things deep in me that I have let grow that became big things.  It wasn’t until I was 50 years old that I dealt with a little thing that had been left in my childhood to grow into a really big thing.  The enemy lied.  The enemy convinced me that taking one step toward that little thing would require lots of inner digging which would bring up lots of pain.  Just the mere thought of taking a little peek at my little thing that had grown to a disproportionate size scared me.  I would get close to lifting the veil but never have the bravery to fully reveal that which it covered.

However, supported by the Holy Spirit, I did it.  I took the peek.  I tore the veil.  At 50, I tackled the root and the rest followed.  Just like my flower beds, it needed just a portion of my time, concentration on the root, and then an arm loading of pulling.  

And just like my hour of garden work, I was hot.  I was sweaty.  My legs were mosquito bitten.  I was dirty.  But my task was done.  Now, of course this is simply a metaphor but you get my point.  There were hard things to face:  pain, fear, emotional trauma.  But, once those things were faced, through the help and comfort of the Holy Spirit, my task got done!  My little thing that had grown into a big thing for many years had been eliminated.

Please don’t hear me say that all little things left unattended will be a walk in the park.  They won’t.  Sometimes it takes years to pull at the root.  But I can guarantee that the lies and fear and dread the enemy has conveyed to you associated with the attack of the root is far greater than what will be required of you.  His lies are meant to stop you in your tacks.  However when we decide it’s time - pull!