Weeds Again - James 1

I have in recent months been meditating on the purpose of weeds, after being told by a friend that weeds have an important role in nature, wondering the kind of role they have in our lives as believers and followers of Jesus. This time I would like to think about what happens when we disturb soil in the natural and compare this to our lives.

When a few years ago I decided to build a house on some property we had purchased earlier, the first thing I did was to remove the noxious weeds which were in the vicinity of where we would build. I was pleased to see that most of these weeds never came back. Yet on the borders of this area there were places where the soil was disturbed and wherever there was a disturbance weeds tended to sprout. At the time I was rather perplexed over this as the weeds were the only things that grew, none of the native flora grew in these areas. As a result I consulted a weeds expert who informed me that this was typical, wherever there is soil disturbance and the native environment changed, weeds tend to grow in place of the native vegetation.



This started me thinking and comparing this to our lives as Christians, whenever our own environment is disturbed, that is our normal rhythms and flows in life, whether it be losing our job, moving home, losing a loved one or otherwise, these things give room for weeds to appear in our lives. And whilst we would automatically says "how terrible this is", I am starting to believe that this is in fact a way in which we are tested in our faith and able to see areas of life that need change.

James tells us, "consider it pure joy, my brothers when you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance." James here makes it clear that trials have a purpose in life and we could even say that without them we might never become mature as James goes on to clarify. As I mentioned in an earlier blog, according to weeds experts, weeds enable the native flora to strengthen. It would appear therefore that weeds enable us to grow in our faith and develop maturity in the Lord.

This then brings me to the parable of the man who built his house on the rock (Matthew 7:24) compared to the one who built upon the sand. In this parable we see the comparison between that which is strong and stable to that which is fleeting and soft. This parable is very much about the environment in which we grow our lives. When we choose to position ourselves in Christ, The Rock, and all that He has for us from His Kingdom then we are stable. However when we choose to put our faith in our own hands or resources and strength, our environment can be disturbed at any time. And whilst I said that weeds can strengthen our lives, it is better from the beginning that we establish our selves firstly in Christ.

Matthew 6:33 commends us to "seek first the Kingdom of God and all it's righteousness..." If and then storms do arise which cause our environment to be shaken, we can know and trust that all we need is in Christ and it is He who will uphold us.