Return visitors

Last week I ended seven months of blogging about God-messages I sensed during September’s five-day vacation on one of the Hawaiian islands.  Of course, people have asked, “Are you planning a return trip?”  Not sure on that!  In the meantime, here are some true “return visitors.”  Welcome to my weedy back yard! There’s a hidden, five-feet-wide space between our house and the neighbor’s fence that annually produces a crop of dandelions.  Tall rhododendrons hide it from street view, but I know it’s there.  Every spring, when I fight scratchy rhododendron branches to rake their carpet of dead leaves, I also bring a bucket to hold the crop of dandelions I pull.

That they return every year reminds me how spiritual “weeding” is an ongoing process.  Without self-examination and confession, my life would sprout a thick patch of weeds, particularly those which Hebrews 12:15 describes:

See to it that no one misses the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many.

I’ve been thinking a lot about that passage lately, probably because I was recently the target of someone’s "bitter root" toward me. Still hurting from that person's negative comments, I came to church this past Sunday never imagining the sermon would be so well tailored to my needs. The speaker spoke on his own experiences with “bitter roots,” depression and hatred, using scriptures that have become old friends from my own earlier painful lessons in this area.  I especially thought of two spiritual character lists the apostle Paul wrote to different churches:

Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice.  Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. (Ephesians 4:31-32)

Rid yourself of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips....Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.  Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. (Colossians 3:8, 12)

There’s no cavalier, self-centered “you made me mad, therefore I don’t like you” in these verses. They reveal the gritty, difficult, humbling work of living as Christ would have us live.  For me, the closer I get to Christ, the more I realize I need His grace, day by day, in pulling the character weeds that need to go.