weeding your garden

Yesterday as I was weeding my flower beds, I was reminded of lessons the Holy Spirit taught me many years ago while doing the same task. I thought they might be good to share with others.

A number of years ago a friend of mine in ministry had asked me some questions regarding the difficulty she was having with helping a particular individual get free from some things in her life. The woman had been through multiple deliverance sessions, including with the friend who was discussing her situation with me, but never seemed to reach any point of real victory. I promised to pray about the situation and see if God would give me insight.

A few days later, I was out weeding my flower beds. The "dirt" in the area (I hesitated to even term it "soil") can be rock hard. Hence, try as you might to dig the root out, you usually end up with only part of it which, of course, means you get the top (the visible evidence) of the weed, but it soon grows right back.

However, this day was different. It had rained most of the week. The ground was saturated. On this particular day, I could pull most of them out, root in tact, by hand. Those that I couldn't simply pull, a small spade would easily dislodge the root. In some places, the ground was so wet that the dirt would quickly even fill back in the hole left, so there was little to no evidence that something had been removed.

In the midst of that, I heard the Holy Spirit speak to me about the ministry situation.

In the parable of the sower (recorded in Matthew 13 and Mark 4), Jesus refers to the soil of a person's heart determining their ability to receive the word of God and produce fruit based on it. In one of the scenarios within His story, the heart soil is full of thorns that "choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful." (Matthew 13:22) As I was weeding my flower beds that day, I was reminded of this analogy. The issue is to get the weeds (thorns) out of the garden of our heart.

The question posed to me had been why it was so difficult to remove the "thorns" in the situation with this particular individual. (In other words, why it was so difficult to see healing and deliverance that lasted.) I knew I had encountered other, similar situations over the years as well. Yet, with other individuals who had as many issues or even more or "worse" issues, the deliverance had been much easier, the healing immediate, and the both had been permanent (a done deal!). What made the difference?

As I was pulling the weeds so easily this particular day, when I had spent many other days in these same beds that had been much more laborious and the results had not had any long-lasting benefit, I suddenly "saw" the answer.

The difference was in the state of the soil!

The reason I was able to pull the weeds so easily today had nothing to do with my desire to get rid of them or my willingness to spend the time and energy needed to do the job. It had everything to do with the condition of the dirt in which they were rooted.

I immediately "knew" the issue was the preparation of the heart's soil before the ministry session. When the heart of the person coming for ministry has been saturated by the "washing of water with the Word" (Ephesians 5:26), then the ministry session is much easier and the results are real and sustained. Pulling down the strongholds within a person's mind, delivering them of the spirits that have oppressed them, closing off those doors (permanently!) that allowed that access, and seeing them healed from the issues of the past still takes effort, but the results are visible and sustained. They are free from those areas and it shows in their countenance and in their life!

However, when the person desiring ministry has not invested the time and effort to "water" their heart with the truth of the Word of God, it's like trying to dig the weeds out of my flower garden on a hot, dry day. It's very difficult to do. And, while you may actually get all of a particular root here and there, there are more "missed" than gotten. Hence, while there is usually some fruit from such ministry, much (dare I say "most") of it is short-lived. Without getting the real root of the problem, the "symptoms" (weeds) simply begin to resurface.

In the end, those ministering spent a lot of time and energy for very little result. Even more sadly, the person receiving ministry often feels that "this doesn't work" and are hesitant to go through another deliverance session later. Tragically, some who have gone through several different sessions begin to feel "there's no hope for me."

What I learned from this revelation is that as a minister in the area of deliverance and inner healing, I need to be sure the person asking for a deliverance session is ready for it. There needs to be counseling done ahead of that time to ensure the person has "softened" their heart soil by the "washing of water with the Word" so that the time spent will be productive and will bear good and lasting fruit in their life.

It is sometimes difficult to tell someone "no" when they ask for ministry. However, I have learned that if they truly want to get set free, they are willing to hear "you aren't ready to go through that yet" and do what it takes to get there. They are willing to go through the preparation phases to get to a day when the weeds can be quickly and easily pulled.

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Here's a word of warning for someone!
(I sensed that strongly as I typed the following statements.)
There are those who are not willing to pay that price and simply want the "quick fix" from you, as a minister. They are not willing to invest their own time and effort to get to a point of being ready for effective ministry. (For some, this includes not being willing to give up areas of sin in their lives.) They may leave and tell everyone how "hard hearted" you are, because you "refused" to minister to them. Do not succumb to the their pressure and minister to them! It is not likely to have any long-lasting benefit (if any, at all) and they will simply then tell everyone about their "awful" experience with you. Listen to the Holy Spirit. Be driven by compassion coming from the heart of the Father - not the "need" of the person. Move (minster) when the Holy Spirit says it's time. If He says "no," we need to also say "no" as well.
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For those who have issues that you want (and need!) to get past - be those besetting sins into which you continually fall, those "hot buttons" that set you off for no apparent reason and need to be "defused", or just attitudes and feelings that you are know are inconsistent with God's Word - I can personally testify to the reality and the benefit of effective deliverance ministry. I have experienced both deliverance and inner healing. I have also seen their awesome results in the lives of others. It is real. But, be willing to prepare yourself to deal with your issues.

... and get those weeds out of your garden!