I sit in a chair by my bedroom window for my quiet time in the morning. One morning, I looked out at my front yard and noticed a dead patch of grass. This was incredibly annoying because the grass was entirely redone earlier in spring. We spoke with the landscaper, who said to water the grass more. As late spring turned into summer, the yard got worse and worse, to the point where the majority of the grass was destroyed.
It wasn’t a matter of watering the lawn more; it was a matter of armyworms that had invaded my grass and were eating their way through it. The front of my house is west-facing and gets full sun in the afternoon. It was explained to me that the infestation thrives in the sun’s heat. Since there is little tree coverage over the majority of my lawn, the armyworms went to town.
The death of my grass did not happen overnight. It took several weeks to really see how damaging this infestation was becoming. As I looked out at the lawn one morning, I realized this is what can happen to my life if I let the infestation of sin take over. Often, it seems that there are “little sins” that I don’t deal with. I either don’t recognize them or think they aren’t so bad. Maybe everything would improve if I just “watered” my life by praying a little bit. I can’t just read the Bible or pray and get rid of what is destroying me, but I have to do what it says. First, I must accept Christ as my Savior to release my soul from eternal destruction. Once I follow Christ, I strive to live a life worthy of Christ’s sacrifice. Of course, I will never fully attain this, but I must try every day to die to myself and live for Jesus. The beautiful thing is that God knows we are weak and will fail. He forgives us over and over. God wants a relationship with us, even though we will fail and the grass of our lives will wither because we cannot survive the heat of life on our own. God provides shade so we don’t have to bear the heat of living in this sin-scared world. The Bible is full of instructions for our good and God’s glory.
I must be honest with myself and look at my life realistically. James is a wonderful book for believers on how to live. He instructs us on living in wisdom, not showing partiality in our relationships, and the dangers of an uncontrolled tongue, to mention a few. The first chapter of James talks about how all of us will face trials and temptations. James encourages us to walk away from temptations because if we give into them over time, the desires of our flesh will grow into sin and then eventually death. He explains constructive ways to live. James 1:22 says, “Do not merely listen to the work, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says”. To rid myself of the sin and destruction of my life and let the green grass begin to grow, I have to do the hard work of implementing God’s righteous standards in my life, not just acknowledging them but doing them. It is not enough to read the Bible and pray; I must incorporate the teachings and God’s leadings every day. This is how the rot of living a sinful life will be stopped, and new growth will begin. As I was thinking about my front lawn, I realized it isn’t just knowingly committing a sin that can rob me of lush, green living. My attitude, feelings, and emotions can also be a destructive force. This could all be wrapped into sin in my life. I often don’t think of my feelings, emotions, and attitude as sinful, but they can be. Am I anxious in my thoughts? Am I getting upset with people because of how I process a situation? These are also opportunities to turn to God for instruction and help through the Holy Spirit. Satan is the “armyworm” in my daily life. He desires to infiltrate the green pastures that Jesus leads me in. Satan is the ruler of this world and hates not only God but us as followers of Christ. His main goal is to destroy us in any way he can. Every day, when we wake up, we wake up behind enemy lines. We must begin the day by focusing on Jesus and asking him to help us live victoriously throughout the day. It is possible to overcome our enemy, but not on our own strength and power. 1 John 4:4b states, “The one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.” John is talking about discerning the evil spirits of false prophets. Still, I feel it is equally applicable to overcoming Satan, who is, after all, the source of false prophets.
Eventually, the sweltering days of summer came to an end. Finally, we could aerate and scatter grass seed over the destroyed yard. Nothing changed at first, but with enough water and time, beautiful new blades of gorgeous green grass began to fill in the rough, dried, brown patches. From afar, everything looks almost back to normal. There are patches where the grass is sparse, but with enough time and fertilizer, each blade will get healthier, and new grass will continue to fill in the bare spots.
I pray my life is like this. Eventually, the hot days of temptation will come to an end, and I will get a rest. Only for the whole process to begin again down the road. Until I draw my last breath, I will struggle with trials and temptations. I must learn to seek the shade of God’s presence and not live in the scorching heat of trying to go through life alone. I pray the armies of heaven are released to guard my life and protect me. I also trust the Holy Spirit to water and fertilize my heart and soul so that I will grow in strength and stability in my relationship with God. By God’s grace, I first call on Jesus to be my Savior, but then God enables me to live triumphantly in this sin-filled world.
How can I trust God to help me as I go through life? How can I be sure that he will be there for me as my life seems to be filled with death and destruction either by my sins or the poor choices I make? I must rely upon his faithfulness and the truth that God is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Hebrews 13:8). The Bible has many instances when God showed up in ordinary people’s lives and helped, sustained, and delivered them. God is a God of renewal and revitalization. Deuteronomy 20 is a great example of God instructing the Israelites as they prepared for warfare. We are also in a war, and his promise in Deuteronomy 4:4, “for the Lord your God is the one who goes with you to fight for you against your enemies, to give you the victory,” also applies to us.
I did not see the armyworms, but their destructiveness was very evident. Often, an infestation of our spiritual life will be seen in our physical life. We can resist Satan and be renewed and revitalized in our spiritual life to live a beautiful, lush, and rich witness for our Heavenly Father.
I pray that we can get out of the scorching heat causing destruction and live in the shade God provides for our good and protection.
Peace in the Desert 