Seeds, Weeds, and Letting Go(d)

Richard Foster in his book, Sanctuary of the Soul says this:

“Letting go is not the same as suppression. Suppressing suggests a tamping down. A hiding. Letting go is about an upward release to the Father.”

In other words, we got things soooo twisted. What we call letting go is too often just us pushing down our very real emotions and hiding from the truths of who we are and who we are destined to be. We go into hiding and call it surrender.

We aren’t fooling anyone.

Truly letting go is about releasing all of who we are, who we hope to be, and all of our heart’s desires to something greater than ourselves; trusting that what is ours will remain so and what is coming will be greater than anything we could imagine. Essentially we are gardeners, tending our lives and releasing the unknown…the bearing of fruit…to the only One who has control over that anyway. It’s about releasing our expectations of a particular outcome.

It wasn’t until I started gardening myself that I really understood this.

See, a wheat farmer sows seed with the clear understanding that only some will take root and bear fruit. Mostly based on where that seed lands.

She doesn’t hide from this truth because it’s not ideal. She sows anyway.

The farmer also knows that weeds are possible. Maybe even likely. She doesn’t fret. Nor does she necessarily try to uproot the weed immediately. She is still. And then makes the separation at the time of harvest.

What are your weeds? The things that get in the way of your growth. Depression (non-clinical), pain, addiction, need for validation, ambition at the peril of everything else that matters in your life? These “weeds” likely show up for us as we are waiting for the fruit of the seeds we’ve sown. Be still though. Watch the ground. Don’t ignore the weeds, but don’t entertain them either. If you shift all of your focus to the things that pain you at the first sight of these “weeds”–when you are also trying to tend the good in your life–you will most certainly risk damaging all that good.

So chill. When it’s time to harvest the fruit of our labors, THAT’S when we can separate the weeds from the fruit. Because it’s only then we are truly able to clearly see the difference.

TMLG