Imagine with me for a moment a beautiful garden. A few weeks ago, a friend and I had the opportunity to go to Franklin Park Conservatory and Botanical Gardens in Columbus, Ohio. We could see blooms and glimpses of spring everywhere. It was breathtaking. My heart was overwhelmed with the beauty as we walked around with exclamations of joy, taking in the colors, flowers, plants, trees, and gardens. I was awed and deeply moved by our Creator God! Friends, we were all made to flourish. So how do we flourish in God’s Garden? This month, we have been exploring the idea of flourishing through the acronym “BLOOM,” and today we are looking at “L” – let God search your heart.
What kills the growth in our hearts and in our gardens? Weeds/sin. In our physical gardens, as well as in the gardens of our hearts, those pesky, fruitless intruders rob us of thriving or prevent us from even sprouting. We learned that the definition of flourish is to grow or develop healthily or vigorously, especially as the result of a congenial environment. Flowers and plants in a physical garden will not grow into their full potential without water and sunlight; but, weeds grab onto the sun and water for themselves, and choke out the life for our plants and flowers. Likewise, the weeds of sin, unforgiveness, and bitterness can grow fast within our hearts, robbing us of the life and light Jesus wants to pour in by His Spirit. Rather than the fruit of the Spirit, these weeds of the flesh take up way too much space in our hearts.
So what is a gardener to do?
We read in Psalm 139:23-24 NLT, “Search me, God, know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me to everlasting.”
In this Psalm we see the psalmist is asking God to show him the weeds that are clogging his heart. He knows that pulling those weeds will allow him to surrender his heart more fully and live in a deeper connection with his Creator. Why? Because God knows our hearts and knows us better than we know ourselves. He is omniscient, meaning he knows everything. We often think we know what we need, but, friends, our hearts are deceitful. That’s why Jeremiah 17:9 says God examines the soil of our hearts, to see if we have any faults, sin, and imperfections. Like the weeds in our physical gardens, these unwanted plantings in our hearts can overtake us with subtlety. Like David, the psalmist, we want to repent of those things so that we can flourish and abide in Christ. We want to know our maker and exude the fruit of His Spirit in our lives. Our creator wants to cultivate that fruit in us and wants to feed us.
As the psalmist did, ask the Lord like if there is a sin to confess. Lord, am I surrendered to you? Tell Him you want to give Him all of your heart. Ask Him to transform you.
In Galatians 3:20 it says, I have been crucified with Christ, it is no longer I that live but Christ in me. Ask yourself if you are reflecting Christ in your life or if distractions, anxieties of life, negative thinking, toxic relationships, and/or judgmental attitudes are hindering your spiritual growth like weeds in a garden. The beautiful promise of God is that when we confess our sin to Him, He forgives our sin and cleanses us from all unrighteousness (in other words, He pulls the weeds!).
As we all have learned from our physical gardens, weeds like to return. We combat them by using weed control. We can do the same thing for the repeat weeds in our hearts. Daily, or as quickly as we notice a sinful action or attitude within us, we go to God. We give Him everything, including the sin that entangles us, and we ask him to take control. Weeds and sin don’t make it easy but we know what we are up against and so we abide. We rest in the love, grace, and guidance of our Father. We take in the nourishment of his word and his spirit, and we use weed control by searching our heart and plucking out the bad weeds by giving them all to God. We allow him to water us, shine His light upon and within us, and fertilize us to grow. Next week we will talk about the power in Fertilization, but for now, will you pray with me?
Father, you have wonderful plans for us to grow up and flourish in you. You are simply waiting for us to seek you and ask you to help us grow. Give us mercy, grace, and strength to turn to you daily and even moment by moment when we wander to places hindering our spiritual growth with you. You want to root and ground us in your love, and we are grateful. In the Name of Jesus we pray, Amen.
Do weeds kill plants? They sure can. But with God’s help and power, we can pull the weeds from our hearts and flourish.
— Sue M. Lindsey (c) May 2025
