For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. Ephesians 2:10

So I spent a year imagining how the garden in the front yard of our new house could be transformed. Hedges, bushes, and small trees were overgrown with all sorts of vines, shoulder high weeds, and out of control grass. I was planning on ripping it all out, then planting my favorite flower, the hydrangea, with its explosion of vibrant blooms.

It was a few months before Spring before my husband, an enterprising neighbor, and me began the demo. We pulled five garbage cans and countless bags of brush, sticks, weeds, and rocks from the once manicured garden. We mulched, and then decided to wait for Spring to start planting. 

Then, I just got on with life. Backing in and out of the driveway. Not where I wanted that garden yet. But at least the weeds were history.

Then, something happened.

OK. Just for context. I have been known to be the kind of busy that I miss things. I have to be reminded that our family needs to eat and the dog won’t walk himself.

But, this April something caught my eye, when I was (busy) backing out of the driveway, rushing off to work. 

Wait. What? I put the car in park and jumped out. And, since I’m sorta “that neighbor” I didn’t mind screaming in broad daylight.

Hidden underneath the shrubs and trees, was not one or two—but EIGHT mature hydrangea bushes, all coated in buds!  Where did they come from? How did (even I) miss EIGHT BUSHES?

And then I had one of those chats with God.

Ahhhh….Those were the mystery stick looking objects I was too tired to get a shovel and pull out.

Once the weeds were removed. 

The light could hit them. 

Something I loved. Something that was there all along came out.  In full force.

I didn’t even plant them. Or water them into maturity. Or do anything except….

Oh. OK God. I get it. 

I have been told light chases away the darkness. And I agree. There is no place for evil to hide when the Light of Christ shines brightly on a situation. 

But so much more happens.

When Light floods into the soil of a human heart, beautiful things are given the space to emerge and grow.

Things that once were dormant or buried beneath a pile of weeds can do what they were supposed to do.  

When people quit buying into the lies of the enemy and start filling their minds with the Truth of what God’s Word says over themselves and their situations, over what is going on in the world and in our backyard….

Our minds are nothing less than transformed. And a transformed mind leads to transformed actions.

If your life could use a little weeding, be encouraged. There’s no condemnation on this post. 

No one shows up on earth by accident or without a God given purpose. In fact, we are called God’s “workmanship” or “handiwork” in the Bible, created with good works only we can do.  For some of us, those works just happen to be crowded by weeds or rocks at the moment.

What dream, talent, or gifting could be lying dormant, waiting for the light of Christ?

My prayer is for everyone reading this post, that they first let God lead them to the mindsets and habits which, like weeds, tend to reseed and crowd out God’s purpose in your life and knock you off course.  Ask God to reveal them to you. Then, find what God’s word has to say about them and about who you are in relation to them. 

• Insecure? Who does God say you are?
• Anxious? Worried? What does God say about perfect love?
• Overwhelmed by struggles in relationships, finances? Shocked by what you see on the headlines? What does God’s Word say about those areas? What does God’s Word say about how to handle shock and disappointment?

Then, allow God to pull those lies, habits, and mindsets out at the root–at the core untruth which has let them grow. At the toxic motivation which allows you to justify self deprecating behavior. Hand it all over to the master Gardener. Surround yourself with sisters who won’t let you believe lies. Turn all of those scriptures into prayers. Speak them out loud. Read them before you go to bed and first thing in the morning. 

Finally, I pray for God’s light to show you that hidden gift, talent, or dream that has been there all along, just in need of some space to develop.  May the eyes of your heart be opened and you understand who you are in Christ. Hint: Don’t think small. God is generous and full of grace and mercy. He blesses us with more we can ask or imagine so we can accomplish those good works.

He’s waiting. And, so is that gift.

What do you think God is waiting to unearth in you?