How Deep Are the Roots

Sometimes when I seek space to just be quiet in my thoughts, I go outside and spend time breathing in nature.

Today I decided to focus on weeds and the devastating impact they cause to healthy plants.

Nothing ruins your yard like weeds. They are uninvited guests that rob your plants of space and nutrients.

Some weeds seem to even lay dormant and at certain times of the year they spring up wildly and uncontrollably.

The line between having a few weeds - and them running rampant is actually a pretty thin one.

When I left for the weekend there were only a few weeds poking through the mulch. I returned to an overwhelming overtake of my yard.

Of course the goal is to keep your yard maintained and have no weeds, but they still find a way to creep into healthy areas and try to suffocate and destroy.

Roots run deep. The roots of a weed entangle and feed off a healthy host.

Friends, we are living in a time in our world where division and hate and hurt and anger seem to be running deeper than SG-3, the deepest well in the world. Violence + Violence = More Violence. Hurt people hurt people. We need healing. Proverbs 20:22 and Romans 12:17 are very clear that we cannot repay evil and wrongdoing by doing the same thing.

St. Augustine was quoted as saying,

Anger is a weed; Hate is a tree.

Weeds grow quickly, and spread with intent to cover, strangle, and destroy. They can get out of control very quickly. You may be able to pull weeds on your own, but it is much harder to uproot a tree when it's roots anchor strongly into a foundation.

I found some additional life principles as I played in the dirt and pulled out some tough weeds.

How to eliminate weeds

1. Keep up with weeds while they're small. They are easier to pull out when they're young. If something is bothering you, do you let it fester and grow, or do you address it before the the issue gets bigger and out of control?
2. Don't give weeds chance to see light. Newspaper blocks sunlight and oxygen - and it is suggested to use wet paper as a mulch. Weeds die when you suffocate them. Speaking of news, today the media seems to suffocate our peace by highlighting hate, showcasing negative, and glamorizing weeds. Don't let anger and hate feed off of light. Romans 12:19 says do not avenge yourself, but leave it to the wrath of God. It is easier said than done to not let negative people bother you...but in the end, why let them triumph over your peace and joy. Change starts within.
3. Water the plants you want, not the weeds you've got. Have you ever heard the saying that "As a Man Thinketh in His Heart, So is He?" What you water, grows. Don't feed into negative. It is easy to fall prey to negativity. People that are negative want to ensnare you into their viewpoints. Misery loves company.
4. For better or for worse, you will have to still manually pull the weeds up from their roots, which run deep. It is not easy to eliminate weeds. As I pulled I noticed the root growing under the ground - where nobody could see it - was three times as long as what was visible above the ground (see the photos above). Work on your heart. How you are on the inside, says volumes about you. How deep are your roots? Are they healthy roots?
5. Use natural substances like vinegar to kill weeds, but be careful. It is an equal opportunity killer and will destroy your healthy plants as well. You can also try salt, but it can ruin the foundation of your concrete and leave your soil barren. Don't fight fire with fire. Jesus said we have but 2 commandments. Love God, and Love others and He loved us. It doesn't say just love the people that are easy to love. It doesn't say love one kind of person but not another. It says people. That means all people. 1 Thessalonians 5:15 says do not pay wrong with wrong, but always strive to do what is good for each other and for everyone else.

NOTE: If your weeds regrow, then it is because you did not destroy it at the root. We have to continuously examine our hearts...do not allow weeds to regrow...cut them off at the root.

Benjamin Franklin once said,

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

How do you prepare the soil of your soul? What is growing in your garden?

How do you handle the weeds that crop up? Do you let them overtake your joy, happiness, peace? Or do you eliminate them.

Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary. How does your garden grow?

Hate and division kills. What may appear to be a simple nursery rhyme is actually a story about murder, hate, division, and evil. I never knew! Sometimes we also do not know that there are weeds disguising as healthy plants set to fool you.

There is a story in Matthew 13 where Jesus told a parable of Heaven by speaking of a farmer who sowed good seed in his field. While he was sleeping, an enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat. Once the wheat sprouted, then the tares became evident as well.

What are tares? They are noxious weeds that LOOK LIKE WHEAT - but are not.

Both seeds are planted in the ground and it is not until they come into the light and above ground that you can tell the wheat from the weed.

What is the purpose of the story? If it was easy to just pull out the weeds and leave the wheat, then why not do that. Well - by pulling out the weed, it would also destroy the roots of the wheat plant. So when it was harvest time, the farmer said to cut all of it down and THEN separate the tares from the wheat.

With all of the bad in the world, suffering, heartache, confusion, sadness and hate, why would God want the tares to grow with the wheat? Oftentimes we want to take matters into our own hands and just pull the weeds out by force.

Well - here is the reality. It is not so easy to tell those weeds from the wheat. They look almost alike, AND under the ground what you cannot see is that the roots of the weed entangle the roots of the wheat, so by trying to pull the weed out and destroy it, it pulls the wheat out with it. I found this in my own 'weed pulling' below...the healthy was uprooted with the weeds.

The purpose of the story was the farmer knew that there would be more damage to the crop by pulling the weeds, than to let them grow and separate them out once the crops were harvested.

Separate evil from good. Let God's word be what takes root in your heart. Remove the weeds. Do not let them entangle you. They will try.

Look into your heart. Matthew 5:44, Luke 6:27, 6:28 and 6:35, Romans 12:14 says to love your enemies and do good to them expecting nothing in return. Bless those that curse you, do good to those who hate you, pray for those who spite you...because our blessings are in Heaven. Matthew 5:9 says blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called the children of God.