I have a vine in my backyard that seems to be a parasite that can’t be stopped . I know I talk a lot about The Vine (Jesus in John 15:5), but this isn’t that kind of vine.
I first found evidence of it coming through the fence from my neighbor’s back yard into mine. I just cut off the branches coming through the fence, and thought I had it sorted. I found more a bit further into the yard, and started to wonder. Finally, some popped up right in the middle of my raised garden bed, meaning it had gone through the weed guard and all the soil and come up right in the middle of my vegetables.
This meant war. I started pulling the vine out, and it kept going. And going. I pulled up the weed guard a little to look underneath, and realized there was an immense system of vines growing all under it like it was a comfortable blanket rather than a method of keeping weeds out. I found it clear across on the other side of the yard, which means this vine system is now growing throughout my entire yard, underneath everything and lying in wait for whatever plant it can take over while I’m not watching.
Now, I realize I make it sound quite menacing, but honestly, this plant is trying to take over! But it got me thinking about the small things we allow to grow under the surface of our lives without checking them at the fence, and as they slowly spread and choke the life out of everything we have tended so carefully, we can wonder how they could have gotten there.
For me, the “vine-weed” in my life can often be fear. I let the worries and cares of life, the world, my family, the what-if’s start to grow and suddenly realize they have taken over everything! It becomes hard to breathe as the fear chokes me throughout the day.
I can be afraid of how people will react to me, what might happen financially, how badly I might mess up my kids, when a loved one will get sick or die, and on and on it goes. The vine of fear is always waiting just below the surface for an opportunity to rise up and begin the takeover. Often I don’t even realize it has begun its climb up out of the dirt!
I start to make decisions based on what might happen rather than what God has called me to do. This limits what I will do, because I fear what might happen at every turn rather than trusting God has my life in His hand, and will only allow in it what He will work through to bring me to a greater and deeper relationship with Him.
Have you ever considered how absolutely insane some of the methods are which God called His people to use to defeat an enemy or conquer a city or something in the Bible? Walk around the city a bunch of times. Send the choir out front of the army. Walk into the huge body of water and it will part. Wait on the Lord and He will defeat your enemy with a single angel. If I’m waiting for God’s calling to make sense to me, I’m going to be waiting a long time.
The difference with these people, though, is that they listened to God and didn’t let fear make the decision for them. They trusted Him, and watched as God was glorified in His work for them. The common denominator, I think, was that the victory could only be attributed to God Himself because the people didn’t do anything that really made sense to call it a victory. He wants us to stand still and let Him fight for us! Don’t cave to fear and start wildly swinging with a sword—wait and see how the Lord will show up.
There are many of you who, like me, have been waiting a long time for God to change some things. And it can get hard. We want to run away in fear rather than standing in faith. I have seen, though, that Jesus doesn’t just make us stand alone in the waiting. He covers us in His wraparound presence like a shield. It doesn’t mean we won’t hurt or be afraid. But we take the pain and the fear to Him like a little child scared of monsters in the dark, and He reminds us He is perfect love that casts out fear.
When the weed of fear lurks in the shadows, waiting to take over your decisions and your life, put a stop to it. Cry out to God and let Him free you from your fears. Walk forward in joy and freedom, knowing His love comes through even in the scariest places.
Listen to my testimony: I cried to God in my distress and he answered me. He freed me from all my fears! Gaze upon him, join your life with his, and joy will come. Your faces will glisten with glory. You’ll never wear that shame-face again. When I had nothing, desperate and defeated, I cried out to the Lord and he heard me, bringing his miracle-deliverance when I needed it most.
Psalm 34:4-6