Proverbs 8:32-35 "So now, children, listen to me! Blessed are those who keeps my ways. Heed discipline and be wise, and do not neglect it. Blessed is the one who listens to me, watching daily at my gates, waiting at my doorposts. For whoever finds me finds life and obtains favor from Adonai.
Okay take a good look at this garden in the photo. This is a photo of one section in my garden. This undisciplined garden is a mess. I love a structured garden with every plant in it's place, by surrounded mulch to keep out the weeds. As you can clearly see, this garden is far from my vision. It has been allowed for the last few years to just go wild. Now some people love a wild flower garden....I do not. In my mother's words, "it's messy". I do not like messy! When I look at my flower garden I see so many endless possibilities of what it could be and how it could look. I see the potential that is there. It's just hidden amongst the weeds and various plants that have been allowed to take over with no discipline or structure.
I think God sees us the way I see my flower garden right now. We are messy! We are undisciplined! We are running wild! Okay maybe not all of us are this way but you have to admit that there are times when we run our mouth without thinking. We do something we know is wrong but we do it anyway. We know we should do something or say something but we don't. We know that program we watch on TV is something we shouldn't be watching yet we tune it in every week and even set up our DVR so we won't miss it. We know that book is full of filth and trash, yet it intrigues us and draws us in. We know that homeless man on the street needs a few bucks to grab a burger, but that money is for our cigarettes or beer or designer coffee.
We know better! We know the truth of ourselves. We know we should be better disciplined but discipline can be so painful, not just physically but emotionally. We don't like to be told what we should and shouldn't do. We don't want restrictions. We want to live free and without a care in the world. If we feel we need to tell someone off, we do it! If we feel we have the right to seek revenge, we do it! We do what we feel is right in the moment without thinking or caring about how our words or actions may affect someone else. Many of us live undisciplined lives! Our lives are like my garden, a mess. And to top it off we don't look in the mirror and take an honest look at ourselves. We don't blame ourselves for the mess we've made of our lives, we blame God.
"God why did you allow this to happen to me?" "God why did you allow my life to become such a mess?" God why didn't you do something to stop me?" "God where were you?" "God why did you abandon me?" "How could a good God allow this to happen?" Sometimes the answer to these questions is harsh and hard to breathe in but....look in the mirror! God gave us all a free will. We can chose to do and say whatever we feel like, but there are consequences! That's the hardest truth to face is the consequences of our actions and our words.
Listen I know discipline is not easy but it's much better to learn from our mistakes the first time than to have to learn over and over and over from the same dumb mistakes and sins. Trust me until begin to listen to wisdom, until we start to heed the whispers from God, until we allow Him to discipline us, our lives will be as messy or even messier than my garden. The true beauty of discipline and learning to listen to God's wisdom is that our mess will become beautiful.
When we allow God to discipline us and prune us and teach us, when we allow God to deal with weeds and the mess in our lives, when we allow God to remove the mess....we will have beauty. This plant has been disciplined. The weeds have been removed, the mess has been removed and because of that, the true beauty of these flowers can now be seen. Trust me, it was not easy, it was hard work and actually painful at times, but the reward is so worth it. Just look at how beautiful these flowers are. If there were weeds, we couldn't see the flowers.
What beauty are you hiding behind your weeds? Are you willing to allow God's discipline so that your true beauty will shine? God will bless those who listen to Him. God's favor is waiting for those who seek Him. Life, a blessed life is waiting for those who breathe in His discipline and learns from it. Listen life is hard enough, why not try it God's way? You don't know what you're missing. When I truly began learning and listening to God's whispers, my life changed dramatically. When I truly breathed in and learn from God's discipline my heart changed. Was it easy? No. It was ugly, it was messy, it was hard, but it was so worth it, still is. Yes I am still allowing God to discipline me and prune me and remove the weeds that hide my true beauty.
God's favor and blessings are available for you today, are you willing to risk the potential pain and discomfort?
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