Living on eight acres comes with both positives and negatives. For example, it’s amazing to sit on my back patio with a pine-covered mountain rising up to the sky and no signs of other people or city life. It’s quiet, wild, and deeply peaceful. However, the downside of that beauty? Someone has to take care of it. And it’s a lot to take care of.
About 70% of our property is covered with pine trees and scrub oak — mostly scrub oak. Pine trees are maintenance-free for the most part, but scrub oak is wild and tenacious. Also known as Gambel oak, it is drought-tolerant and highly adaptable to its environment. It also has a strong root system that spreads like a bad virus. That means, every summer, I’m outside with my pruning shears trying to keep the forest from swallowing my home. It’s like a terrifying scene from a sci-fi movie.
If I skip even one summer of back-breaking work, the scrub oak covers the walkway and wraps its arms around the eaves. I’m not opposed to hard work, and I love being outside. Even better, I have an amazing pair of pruning shears, a gift from a friend in the gardening business. But by July, after spending nearly every weekend trying to tame the forest threatening our house, I’m exhausted. No matter how hard I work, no matter my determination, the task is bigger than my strength. I know this because of my sore muscles and swollen hands.
A couple weeks ago, my husband came home after running errands and announced, “I got you something. A gift.”
My husband isn’t much of a gift giver, so I was intrigued.
“Really? Are you serious?”
He smiled. “I think you’re going to like it.”
After another trip to his truck, he came back with a box, opened it, and pulled out a black and yellow power tool. At that point, I was pretty sure the gift was for him, not me. “I am not amused,” I said, eyebrows raised.
He was undeterred. Turning toward the closest scrub oak, he pushed a button and got to work. My man had bought me a pair of powered pruning shears. Not the most romantic gift, but magical just the same. And highly effective. In minutes, he’d accomplished more than I could in a couple of hours. My hands and shoulders wanted to cheer.
Stunned, I smiled: “Thank you!”
The spiritual life often feels like holding a small pair of pruning shears against an expanse of forest.
I desperately want to be more like Christ, to think and feel and act like Jesus did. But my sin problem is real. And sanctification — the process of progressively becoming more and more Jesus-shaped — feels impossible some days. No matter how good my intentions or how hard I try to do better and be better, I still fail too often. I take care of one problem only to find three more popping up in its place. The task is bigger than my strength.
But God never intended for me to become more like Jesus with a pair of self-powered pruning shears. Yes, He calls me to be conformed into the likeness of Jesus (Romans 8:29). But He knows I could never accomplish this God-sized work in my own strength. That’s why He gave us a gift:
“But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!
Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to his cross and crucified them there. Since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit’s leading in every part of our lives.”
Galatians 5:22-25 (NLT)
The Holy Spirit is our God-given spiritual power tool. He lives in us, drawing us to the Father, illuminating truth, convicting our hearts, and then empowering us for repentance, renewal, and deeper faith. It’s not about trying harder, but trusting more. Yes, our sin problem is legit. But the Holy Spirit has the power we need to overcome it.
Michelle, I love this picture of the power of the Spirit vs our self powered improvement project! I also love the loving gift from your husband. He gifted what was needed most for your battle with the scrub oak. Might not be champagne & roses romantic but I think even more romantic in guarding your sore muscles & time in the battle. He gets my gold star for husband of the day on that one! Blessings (((0)))
Ha, I agree! Thanks, Ruth.
I hear you. For me it is Romans 7:15, 19…about wanting to do better, be more like Jesus but I don’t do what’s right even though I don’t to do it. Thank goodness for God’s grace and love. BTW, I once received a ladder stabilizer for Valentine’s Day so I would feel more secure cleaning the gutters!
Goodness, YES. I feel this. It’s a daily, sometimes moment-by-moment, struggle. God help me to do what I know I need to do! Thanks for the reminders from Romans 7, Madeline.
I love how you used the example of taming your forest which was nearly impossible to us trying to do things without the Holy Spirit. Thanks for this article, it was refreshing.
Convicting, isn’t it? I keep trying to walk out my spiritual life in my own power. So foolish. But for grace …
Thank you Michelle! I can relate!
Sending you summer joy,
Lisa Wilt
Thank you, dear Lisa! Much summer joy to you, too! xo
Dear Michele……………….So nice to read something from you today. What a great devotion as we enter Memorial Day Weekend. I have always done what you talked about. Doing the same things every year that were difficult, hurtful in my knees and feet, and wondering how I could continue to do it. As I grew older, it was even more difficult and now I am 77 years old and I can’t do these things. My Holy Spirit whispers to me that I should not look at it as failure, but He said, you’ll find something else that you can do and not hurt you in any way. Without my now ex-husband who tried to kill me due to the violent form of dementia. He was in denial and was drinking heavily, the next family member who abandoned me was my son who at the time was 51, he called me one night and told me he no longer thought of me as his mother as I was lying about his father and also, he and his wife would never allow me to see or even speak to my one grandchild, a boy at that time 11 years old. With that he slammed the phone down. I never even got a word in. So my grandson is now 15 and I have had no contact with him since he was 11. They have blocked all ways that I could try to be in touch including any cards that I sent to him in the mail, they got home before my beloved grandson got home from school. They got the mail right away and if there was something there from me, they wouldn’t even open them, they just ripped them up and destroyed them quickly. There was money and then checks in some of those cards that were destroyed. I knew as the checks were never cashed. I have no other family and I don’t even know how my now ex-husband is except one of his friends told me he was not doing well. I call and he never answers the phone so I leave a nice VM, but he never calls me back. So all holidays really put me in a season that is very sad. I have surrendered to Jesus and He said that He will work on these things and I should not worry. I am trying to do that, but the facility that I live in with 100 senior citizens almost all have relatives that come pick them up and take them to their homes to celebrate Memorial Day. I am not jealous of them, but I do tell them how lucky they are to have friends and relatives to help them with their wash, getting groceries, etc. What I try to do is talk with them and listen to their difficult situations and encourage them to pray and know that God loves them. This is what my Holy Spirit meant when He said something else would come up like your Power Pruner. I love people and can tell when they are having a bad day so I talk to them. It makes me feel better and I pray that it helps them to feel better. They know they can trust me not to spread their stories around. Unfortunately, we also have too many women here that gossip, make things up and upset others. They don’t care. They just want to know everyone’s business. I steer friends away from them and many of them know not to get involved with those individuals. Michele, I am so happy after I have read your words. They make me smile as sometimes Jesus does things that at the time, we didn’t notice what some things we got or did until later when we thought about it. It does not need to be a “Miracle”. It can be anything. Michele, I wish you a wonderful Holiday Weekend. I lived through the Viet Nam War and lost some friends quite a few from our high school. It was a bad War and I wonder what we accomplished with that War. Love and prayers to you Michele and your family………………….Betsy Basile
Michele, try finding a product called Tordon, along with cutting the scrub oak. I help my husband when he cuts trees and especially wild honeysuckle. I put some Tordon (a liquid) in an old green bean can and I brush the new cut, using an old paint brush, with the Tordon. Tada! NO new growth of each cut.
A great analogy and I can so relate! The weeds of satan are thriving and indeed our dull pruning shears and swollen hands need our “Helper, the Holy Spirit!”
Well said! What a relief that we don’t need to do it on our own. Thanks, Kathy!
Michele,
My spiritual power tool is at work all the time. I can sense Him leading me to do things or call people. He is aiding me in becoming more Christ like every day. Boy can I use all the help I can get!!
Blessings:)