Pulling and Planting
"Negative thoughts are like weeds. Positive thoughts are like seeds." Anonymous
Have you planted a flower garden? What's the first thing you have to do?
Pull weeds. Those wild plants spring up from nowhere. Do nothing and that's what shows up in the garden. No effort is required to grow weeds. However, these invaders are not as attractive as flowers.
Before Adam and Eve sinned, they lived in God's beautiful garden. We cannot even begin to imagine the beauty of the garden our Lord designed. All the splendor of the flowers and the glorious fragrances they released must have be heavenly.
Then along came the cunning serpent who deceived Eve, who, in turn, duped her husband. As punishment for their disobedience Adam and Eve had to leave the most beautiful garden ever. Recorded in Genesis 3:17-18, God told Adam, "Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life. It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field" (NIV).
I imagine this is when weeds first appeared. Never before had man pulled a weed from a garden. But now, the intruders showed up in the garden (including the painful thorny ones). Sweat and toil from mankind has poured over gardens ever since.
We can compare our minds to a garden. The sneaky devil who tricked Eve can just as easily fool each of us. He sends those weeds of negative thoughts into our minds in a nanosecond. But to be in pursuit of a Totally Transplanted life, we must pull those weeds out of the garden of our minds and plant seeds of beautiful flowers--the positive thoughts.
I do not know about you, but negative thoughts easily invade my head. If I do not receive a call from a friend or relative, I imagine the worst scenarios; images like those of an action movie!
My oldest son, now in his twenties, used to travel with my mother. I always had their itinerary, but if I did not hear from my mother when I thought I should, I worried. (This was before everyone had cell phones.)
Thankfully, a wise coworker told me, "Bad news travels faster than good news." Therefore, I would tell myself over and over again, "Don't worry. No news is good news."
However, it's not enough to just to try and not to worry. Like in a garden, if we pull the weeds out and nothing else occupies that space, the weeds return. If we do not replace the negative thoughts of worry with positive thoughts, the negative thoughts will return.
Isn't it enough to think happy thoughts like the residents of Neverland? No, the only true source of happy thoughts come from God's Word.
" We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ" (2 Corinthians 10:5, NIV).
If we have a thought that causes worry, anxiety, or doubt, the thought must be plucked like a weed from our mind. To water and nourish those thoughts is not obedient to Christ. But what are we to think about?
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you. (Philippians 4:6-9, NIV)
We are not to allow our minds to be filled with anxiety. We're to pray and thank God and present our requests to Him. His peace will then guard our minds. The above Scripture gives us a list of things to think about:
- Whatever is true
- Whatever is noble
- Whatever is right
- Whatever is pure
- Whatever is lovely
- Whatever is admirable
We can think about those things which come from the Word of God. We can read and plant the seed of God's word which are the positive thoughts in our minds. Focusing on His word, acting on faith and doing what it says is being obedient to Christ. His Word will grow in our minds and our hearts. We have to keep planting those positive seeds to keep the weeds out.
I learned when anxiety comes, to work at something God has called me to do whether it is to write an article or call to encourage a friend. I know anyone of us can think of someone who has a situation that is worse than our own. Others need us and when we help them, it takes our minds off ourselves.
Because we have never known God's Garden of Eden, it is work for us to maintain the garden of our minds. We must keep pulling the weeds of negative thoughts and cast them out. And we must continuously keep planting the seed of God's Word in our minds which will lead to Totally Transplanted lives in Christ.
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