In the Garden of My Heart (Day 2 from Cleansing Thoughts)

   As I sat there, I was reminded of the times I got upset with the other members of my family for not doing their part. I could remember stomping off when my husband would take the credit for the work I had done. After all, his biggest contribution was walking behind the tiller. Conveniently, I had forgotten how lovingly he had taken pains not to leave footprints in the soil, and how he had always kept it looking like the plants were growing out of a rich brown carpet. And there were the boys. Every time I asked them for help, they would deliberately do it wrong so I would have to do it myself. But I had also forgotten the hours they had sat up with me just to keep me awake while the canning was being done, and the praises I had received when they ate the food I had prepared. I had spent my summer strutting around like the little red hen! I remembered all the times I had spent complaining to God, and anyone else who would listen, because they would not help me as I thought they should. Oh, how I must have sounded like Martha when she wanted Mary to leave the feet of Jesus to help her. I could hear Him say, "Beverly, Beverly, you are worried and troubled about many things, but like Martha, you are not seeing what is being sown here."

    AS if looked at the harvest of my heart, I was bitterness, resentment, self-centeredness, and pride. How had I been so careful to remove the weeds in my garden yet allowed my heart to become in such disarray? I was more diligent in selecting the seeds and plants for the garden than I was in choosing the words I spoke to my family. I had sown sparingly into the kingdom of God and as a result, reaped just a sparingly. Why would my family want to help when all i could do was find fault in what they had done? 

   The Lord reminded me of Colossians 3:23-25 (NKJV), “And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not unto men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Jesus Christ. But he who does wrong will be repaid for what he has done, and there is no partiality.” I had been seeking the praises of my family and friends and had taken joy out of preparing something for them, but in doing so, I had lost the opportunity to show God’s love in the way I reacted to them. I was seeking my reward here, in the now, from family and friends, and had forgotten to lay my treasures up in heaven, looking to Christ for my reward.