Leftover Tiller Twitch
By Luann Prater
Thursday, April 26, 2018
Sow righteousness for yourselves, reap the fruit of unfailing love, and break up your unplowed ground; for it is time to seek the Lord, until he comes and showers his righteousness on you. Hosea 10:12 NIV
My cheek jerked, then quivered like a butterfly. I was clueless why my face decided to take off in motion as if trying to dance with the stars. I laughed and pointed it out to my husband.
What in the world was going on? I thought it might calm down as nighttime approached, however it not only worsened, but my leg joined in the boogie.
This was not only frustrating but my focus was shot. How could I concentrate on any of the tasks at hand if my body was not cooperating?
My husband prescribed a banana and a vitamin because clearly I was lacking something. True, I was lacking the ability to control the jiggles.
After sitting still for what seemed like forever, the random motion eased. Soon my face and leg were back to normal.
In those quiet moments, God reminded me that the day before, during a very stressful situation, I decided to break up the hard ground where our garden is planted.
You see, I’ve always had this natural reaction to things outside of my control: Cut the grass or Cut my hair, because THOSE things I CAN control!
He reminded me that yesterday was indeed a stressful day, and since the grass wasn’t tall enough yet in the season to mow, and my hair was already sporting a shorter do, I pulled out the tiller.
Our garden, the prior year, was lovely until my hubby spent a month in the hospital, then the weeds took over. The ground became packed and hard.
When I guided the tiller to the garden space to prepare it for a new spring planting, I realized just how hard it had become.
My body bounced along with the tiller as the ground refused to yield. Finally after several passes through the soil, the ground was soft and ready. However my body was still shivering the next day.
Our life is so much like that hard ground. We don’t take time to pull the weeds. We allow other things to take root and pack our lives full of heart hardening substitutes. Bitterness, envy, anger, self-reliance, or failure to forgive, can leave no room for beauty to grow.
God gave me the reminder, with a twitching cheek and a jerking leg, to break up the unplowed ground in my heart so that He can plant beauty. He uses His Word to remind us, not to shame us or make us feel guilty. His reminders are there to give us hope.
For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope. Romans 15:4 NIV
Dear Lord, thank You for giving me a good dose of tiller twitch, because that reminded me that I have allowed some things to take root in the garden of my heart. Break up the unplowed ground Father, so that You may plant hope in my heart. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
© 2018by Luann Prater. All rights reserved.
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Originally published Thursday, 26 April 2018.
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