Lessons From A Hedge Bush
Lessons From A Hedge Bush
(Letting go of past hurts and failures)
Several years ago I built a garage in our backyard. I notice one day that a small hedge had begun to grow in the flower bed right near the foundation wall. Instead of pulling it up while it was small, I broke it off. The next year it was still there, and I ignored it. After another year I went to pull it up, but it seemed hard. Since I didn’t try very hard I left it alone. Every year afterward I just looked at it. Six or seven years later, the trunk of the hedge was no longer a twig as in the beginning. It had gotten as thick as the small part of a baseball bat. The limbs had gotten longer, and the bush made that side of the yard look bad. The hedge was rooted too deep for me to pull it out. I realized that unless I pull that hedge bush up, it could push its way into the foundation of the garage, and then I would have a really big problem. I went into the garage and got a cable and chain. I hooked them around the hedge and then to my truck. Under the power of the truck, while hooked to a chain, I pulled the hedge out with ease. I could see afterward that the roots had grown widely and deeply diffused. On my own, I could never have the strength to pull it up. The truck, however, had more than enough power to pull it right out of the ground. I learned something from that hedge bush.
Often, there are things in our hearts that have been there for a long time. Just like I neglected to deal with that hedge in the early years, we neglect to deal with the hurts and pains we experience. Over time those things take deep root in our hearts and cause us to be bitter. The fruit of our bitterness is seen in our anger and resentment toward others. Sometimes the fruit of that bitterness is seen in our lack of love for others or a very critical, unforgiving, or condemning spirit. The writer of Hebrews states this in 12:15. See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no "root of bitterness" springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled; The reason that people have problems trying to shake the un-Christ like fruit is because the root is so deep, just like I was unable to pull up the hedge bush because the roots had gotten too deep, people are unable to make the changes in their own strength. They failed earlier to obtain God’s grace. The remedy for change is just like the remedy I used to get rid of the hedge bush. I hooked the hedge bush to a chain and then hooked the chain to the truck and through the power of the truck with the chain hooked to the truck and then around the hedge bush, it came out even though its roots had grown wide and deep. God’s word is the chain. His grace through faith hooks our hurts to the chain. The Holy Spirit is the truck whose power pulls us out of the bitterness that prevents us from displaying the fruit of the Holy Spirit. The way we let go of past hurts and failures is by entering God’s grace through obeying His word by faith and allowing His power to work in us and through us. Letting go can be difficult for us but obeying and trusting in God’s word allows the Holy Spirit to give us the hook up that releases us from the hurts and failures of the past. You’ll be surprised at what you can learn from a hedge bush.
Begin the new year by believing God’s word and allowing His grace to work in you and through you by the power of His Spirit.
Pastor Robinson
