A Heart Prepared
Growing up, we always had a garden. I have many fuzzy memories from early in my childhood of digging in the dirt and pushing some large seeds into the ground with my tiny finger. As I got older, I helped with weeding and harvesting as well as planting and watering, but turning the soil was always my favorite job.
Every spring, I would go into our little shed and get the pitchfork. I would shove it as far into the hardened soil as I could, and jump on it with all my might. Then I would pull the handle down, bringing up a big clod of dirt. Over and over, I would dislodge pieces of the top crust of dirt packed together by the winter rains, turning it under and breaking it up until finally, we could use a garden rake to smooth out the garden beds, now prepared and ready for planting.
I’ve found that there are seasons in my life when God does this same process in me. He uses the pressures of life to push His truth deep into my heart, piercing through the tough crust of my heart and exposing the sin and wrong thinking deep within. The hardened places of my heart must be broken up and turned over before God can begin to smooth them out again. Rocks and deeply rooted weeds must be sifted out so that the new growth will not be hindered.
This turning over of my heart’s soil is usually painful, but it is necessary if God is to do a deep work in and through me.
The book of Hosea mentions this breaking up of the heart’s soil:
“Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground: for it is time to seek the Lord, till He come and rain righteousness upon you.” (10:12)
During those painful times when God is breaking up the fallow ground of my heart, I have found it helpful to remember that God only breaks the hard places in my heart in order to help me be ready for the righteousness He plans to pour out upon me. The goal is for me to grow to be more and more like Christ.
“Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peacable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.” (Hebrews 12:11)
I know, but so often forget, that any pain God allows me to experience is wholly for the inseparable purposes of my good and God’s glory.
One of my favorite verses over the years has been Jeremiah 29:11, which says,
“For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.”
Just remember, if God is turning the soil of your heart, it is only because He means to make it beautiful, fruitful, and abundant.