And The Dandelions Grow

I inwardly cringed as my child handed me yet another wilted bouquet of dandelions. They grow faster than she can pick them and their roots take hold deep into the ground. The only way to truly rid yourself of these weeds is to slowly kill them by infesting their roots with poison. I can see these weeds scattered and clustered across the grass, as well as an infestation underneath the playground.

But in my child’s eyes they are a bright abundance of spring’s bounty. In her eyes they are beauty and brilliance just right for her little fingers to pick and a gift to be given. In my eyes they are weeds. They are irritating and tacky and much work required by my hands to remove them from the lawn.

But who am I to crush her tender spirit? Who am I to push upon her my opinions and annoyance? Who am I to declare they are unwanted weeds thus inflicting an emotional burden causing her to think twice before offering her heart in the form of a hand-picked gift? I took the bouquet and expressed gratitude. And I inwardly cringed again as the sticky residue of this so-called flower left a stain on her shirt.

Have you ever stopped to ponder the effect your emotions would cause when you choose to react instead of respond to a situation or circumstance? Our emotions cause us to stew, chew, and ponder much. But, If we must stew, chew, and ponder, let us do it upon this truth: we would have greater successes in life’s relationships if we started the day by asking Jesus to go before us than we would ending the day by asking Jesus to clean up after us.

Matthew 13:38, The field is the world, and the good seed stands for the people of the kingdom. The weeds are the people of the evil one

As I tossed the dandelions into the garbage can, I wondered from where they originally came. Who, in all their wisdom, decided that these silky little bursts of sunshine were in fact irritable little weeds?

Dandelions are actually called Taraxacum officinale, which means the “Official Remedy for Disorders”. Dandelion roots have the ability within them to bring relief and healing to a large variety of health problems including liver disorders, diabetes, urinary disorders, acne, jaundice, cancer and anemia.

And this little weed caused me to wonder some more. Perhaps the way we look upon this weed is akin to the way satan looks at us, Christ’s people and His church. We are like annoying little weeds that are scattered, clustered, and nearly impossible to irradiate from his playground- the world- and we spiritually grow faster than he can pick us off. He desires to kill our spirit by slowly infesting our roots with poison for within our roots dwells the remedy for disorders and the ability to bring relief and healing. Within our roots dwells the Spirit of Christ Himself.

Let us ask ourselves a most poignant question in order to understand how emotionally healthy we are: If we laid out the emotions we let loose off our tongues each day as bricks, would they create a path towards righteousness, or would they build a wall of emotional security? Let us tear down the emotional walls and take the path less travelled. There will be emotional weeds, but the mind of Christ and the gift of wisdom will help us discern the ones that need to be pulled from the sprouts of growth that come from good seed.

Father, help us to be wise in knowing how to respond to our emotions and the emotions of others, not react to them. And let us be wise to know that not everything is as it appears to be. Weeds and all. In Jesus name, Amen.

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