Laced With Grace

I’ve been exercising regularly now for the past several months with my husband.  It doesn’t take long into our workout before we’re both covered in sweat and each one is looking at the other wondering why didn’t you bring down some water?  Inevitably we’ll have to take a quick break to get that hydration we so desperately need before we can continue working out our bodies. 

When we’re working hard, water isn’t just an option, it’s a necessity.  I can’t imagine saying that I was too busy excercising to stop and get water.  Dehidration not only makes it hard to continue working at an intense pace, but it’s downright dangerous.  There’s been a few times when we’ve been on long hikes in the mountains when one person has gotten overheated and the lack of water became scary. 

Have you ever noticed how animals don’t need to be told to drink 8 glasses of water a day?  They follow their internal instincts and seek out water regularly.  They don’t have bottles stashed everywhere they go, so they are constantly on the lookout for the next source of water. 

As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God.  My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.  When can I go and meet with God?  Psalm 42:1-2

How is it that I would not deny my body the water it thirsts for, but I willingly deny my soul the Living Water I’m thirsting for?  “I’m too busy to sit down and pray.  I don’t have time for reading God’s word today.”  And my soul gets parched from the lack of water.

This past weekend, at a ladies’ retreat, I had the opportunity to refresh my weary soul and to fill up on Living Water.  But, it reminded me that I need to be on the lookout for streams of water EVERY DAY.  I need to come and drink from the water of the Word and fill up on His Presence regularly if I don’t want to dry out. 

Boyd’s garden was an amazing site. People drove slowly while passing by just to admire it. The meticulously straight rows didn’t have a weed or rock in sight. If you were to ask my husband about that, he’d say that’s because he and his siblings spent hours pulling weeds.

 When it was harvest time there was always more than enough for Margaret to can or freeze to feed the family for a year or more and bountiful enough to share with others. I never saw any tomatoes the size and color of those that grew in my father-in-law’s garden.  The ears of white corn were always sweet, tender and juicy.  The potatoes looked like large, smooth rocks when they were ready to be dug up.

 A harvest like that doesn’t just happen. It takes lots of work. And much of that work began long before planting season. The soil needed to be tilled. In the fall, he’d “plow it under” to create compost and fertilize the soil over the winter. Then late winter and early spring he would start tilling the soil again to prepare it for planting. The plow would always break up the clods of dirt and turn up the rocks that would interfere with the vegetables taking on deep roots.  You’d think after all those years of gardening in the same spot there wouldn’t be a clod of dirt or a rock left to turn up and get out of the garden. It just seemed like the soil should be as fine as grains of sand. But the long, idle months actually made the soil hard and packed down. In order to produce an abundant harvest, it had to be tilled multiple times prior to each planting season.

 The Scriptures are full of illustrations of farming, preparing the soil, pulling up weeds, rocks, thorns and thistles from the soil of our hearts. Psalm 37:3 tells us to “dwell in the land and cultivate faithfulness;” work the soil, till it up so there can be an abundant harvest.

 In order for my life to be fruitful, I must break up the soil of my heart and get rid of anything that would get in the way of growth.  Sin needs to be broken up and removed from my heart and life in order to live a fruitful life.  Hosea 10:12 says, “Sow for yourselves righteousness; reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground, for it is time to seek the LORD, till He comes and rains righteousness on you.”

Breaking up fallow ground is hard work, especially when it’s the rocky, fruitless soil of my heart. There was a time in my life when the process went on for months. I wanted to experience the joy of personal revival in my life. So I began the process of breaking up the fallow ground of my heart. There were days when I cried out to God saying, “Please Lord, STOP! This hurts too much! I can’t do it anymore. Don’t ask me to plow through the rocky soil another day!” But those very tears that I shed seemed to be the gentle healing rain that He promised to pour out “on the thirsty land and streams on the dry ground” (Isa. 44:3). The fallow ground of my heart was being cultivated. I was forever removing rocks and thorns and thistles from the very ground of my heart that I so desperately wanted to produce the fruit of righteousness.  All the tilling and crying out to God, brought about fruit, a bountiful harvest and a deep desire for righteousness.   I’m grieved over the wasted years and the sin that I allowed to so easily entangle me and created such fallow ground in my heart. But I’m forever grateful that I have a God who has chosen to dwell in this broken, revived heart!

 Margaret went home to be with the Lord in 1986. Boyd stayed on in the home they built together and kept gardening until the homestead was sold several years ago. His mind is fading with Alzheimer’s and is living in an Alzheimer’s Home. If he were able to talk with you today with a clear mind, he’d tell you how much work gardening was and how he came to hate it at times. But he would also tell you of the joys the bountiful harvest brought.

I miss Boyd’s garden.

You can visit Marsha over at Marsha’s Musings.

“O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water. So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary, beholding your power and glory.
Because your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise you. So I will bless you as long as I live; in your name I will lift up my hands.”
~ Psalm 63:1-4 (ESV)

Everyday we are rushing to get our to-do list done. Get up, get the kids ready for school, go to work, volunteer at church or school (or both), prepare dinner, clean; the list goes on…By the time night rolls around, we are ready to drop into bed, so we can do it all over again the next day, and next…Seriously, everyday life can drain the joy right out of us. Although I no longer have to rush around getting our son from here to there, life is still busy – only in a different way.

Psalm 63 has become one of my favorite Psalm over the past year. David wrote this particular Psalm when he was in the desert of Judah. I can relate. Not only do I live geographically in the desert, but also my mind and body were drained. Where did my joy go? Did I once again put too much on my plate? Hm, yes…Once again I let things creep into my life that kept me from the One who truly brings me joy…

Let me share the next 4 verses of David’s marvelous Psalm:

“My soul will be satisfied as with fat and rich food, and my mouth will praise you with joyful lips, when I remember you upon my bed, and meditate on you in the watches of the night; for you have been my help, and in the shadow of your wings I will sing for joy.
My soul clings to you; your right hand upholds me.”
~ Psalm 63:5-8 (ESV)

Did you see? David found joy in the shadow of our Lord’s wings. His soul was satisfied with the being in the presence of the Lord. Oh, what a way to spend some of our free time with Him.

Sweet sisters, I know that the things we are doing are good thing, like taking care of family, or volunteering, earning a living. One thing I suggest though: take some time out of your busy day to spend with the Lord. I know, it is not easy to do, but oh, it is so worth it. Your day will go much smoother; well, mine does when I intentionally take time out to spend in His presence…

Lord of Heaven and Earth. I need Your help to keep me on track. In order to find true, satisfying joy, I need to spend time in your presence on a daily basis. Lord, clear my to-do-list in order for me to be refueled in this dry parched land called life. In the precious name of Jesus ~ Amen