Thistles and Thorns
It’s been too long since the last blog post, and for that I apologize. We were two thirds done with our Parable of the Sower, talking about the different types of soil that can keep us from being fruitful. This parable is found in Matthew, Mark, and Luke and is a great tool in weeding heart gardens.
The third type of soil that Jesus mentions is crowded with thorny thistle plants and creeping vines. The thistles represent worries and anxieties that crowd out good thoughts and keep us from the good life God has for us. You wouldn’t think that kids have these kinds of cares and concerns, but in my experience, they do. Children are experts at picking up on the tensions and issues around them and because they really don’t understand adult situations, the unknown of it often produces worry and fear. It’s no mistake that this parable uses the thistle as a picture of fear because it mirrors exactly the effects of fear on a heart. Thistle plants are invasive, deep-growing weeds, with roots that are capable of going twenty feet deep! According to a gardening website’s instructions, thistle has to be dug up at the earliest sign of growth because it can grow back from even a fragment of a root left behind. If not completely removed, the thistle plant will just keep growing back again and again and again. Wow! What an accurate picture of fear. It can take root quickly in us and when it does, it can be exhausting to eradicate. A better way is, like weeding a garden, to take an active role in keeping fear and worry out of our hearts. We can live that good life in front of our children and we can teach them how to do the same.
2 Corinthians 10:5 tells us to “bring every thought into captivity.” It may be a surprise to the rest of the world, but we really don’t have to listen to every thought that pops into our head! And since we can’t hear the thoughts our children are having, it’s so important that we give them the opportunities to really talk to us. As a teacher I often remind myself that there are a lot of words going from me towards my students. It’s like I’ve turned into Charlie Brown’s teacher all of a sudden! “Mwah-wah-waaah-wah-mwah.” Do you feel like that as a parent sometimes too? Let’s try to remember to give our children time to flip the switch and flow their words the other direction, from them to us. Favorite talk times for me with my kids were times when they were stuck with me- like in the car. Take your teen to a busy drive-through at dinner time and get stuck there, just you and he. Then get him talking to you about anything. It’s worth the $10 and the malnutrition. Bedtime is another great time to get kids talking, especially about hidden heart issues. Fears seem to rise to the surface in the quiet stillness of a bedroom at night. Listen for any lies they may be believing about themselves or the situations that they are worried about and then speak truth over them instead. Fear and worries come when we put our trust in something other than God. Redirect their heart to faith in our loving, good Father and then pray with them. I love to have my students pray confessions over themselves. “I am not afraid. God loves me. I can do what I need to do. God is with me.” Whatever the situation, they begin to believe those words and their fears disappear. How wonderful to have your child fall asleep at night with thoughts of faith towards God dancing in their head, instead of fear. Truly we must help our children cut out fear at the root by cultivating faith as a habit.
The vines in the parable are the lies of the false glamour of the world; bling that outshines our contentment and creeps in as distraction. I think it’s interesting that Jesus was talking to these people in Bible times about the distractions of their age. What distractions could they possibly have had compared to our day? Did they jazz up their camels with leather seats and wood grain dashboards to try to compete with everyone else? It makes me chuckle. But what Jesus is really saying is that whatever can take our eye off of His desired plan of fruitfulness for us, that is a distraction. Sometimes it’s sin. Sometimes it’s the ways of the world that have a false sense of glamour and we just want to fit in. Sometimes it’s the deceitfulness of riches, the desire to have an unlimited source we can get our hands on to feel secure. Parents- watch over the vibe in your home for these distractions. There’s nothing wrong with your child having the top brand of sneakers, but if you start to see their worth and value is tied up in things like that, there’s a problem. We want our kids to have friends, I know. But wanting to be cool and trying to fit in isn’t the answer. That is a vine that will choke them out.
The answer comes as your child finds their worth and value in the love of Jesus. Mommas- you can tell your child until you are blue in the face that they are special... and you should! But what they really need is an encounter with the love of God for themselves. This is how they will learn to love themselves and like themselves, because God does! You can help them keep the fears and the distractions of the world out of their hearts by living a free life in Jesus before them. And then watch over them as you help them to do the daily gardening job of pulling weeds. And don’t stop there. Pray parents! Pray and believe! And listen. God will speak to you and He will give you His precious promises to hold on to. You can provide for your children all the opportunities to meet and relate to God that you can. From there, let God be their God by allowing Him to move in their lives and work on the soil of their hearts. He is the best Gardener and has a beautiful future full of glorious, precious fruit planned out for them.
Postscript- A promise God spoke to me many years ago that I continue to believe to this day: “All of your children will be taught by the Lord, and great will be their peace.” Isaiah 54:13.
