As I was outside delighting over the new little sprouts in each of my pots, a huge yellowjacket flew up and crawled in through a gap in my tall planter box.
This is the third time I’ve seen this happen. That yellowjacket must be building a nest up in there.
The thing is, I can’t exactly turn my tall planter box upside down to find and destroy the yellowjacket nest (which might possibly be under there). My planter box is filled with Poppy seeds which were given to me by someone very special in Idaho. And not only that, the poppy seeds are just beginning to sprout!
I’m not about to disturb the tall planter box. I don’t want to risk damaging my little baby poppy sprouts.
If there is a yellowjacket nest in the process of being built underneath the planter box, it will have to wait until fall when the poppies are all done blooming and the seeds have been collected for next year.
Then hubby and I can turn the planter box over and rip out any yellowjacket nest underneath there which doesn’t belong.
This brings to mind Jesus’s parable of the wheat and the weeds:
“Jesus told them another parable: ‘The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away.
“When the wheat sprouted and formed heads, then the weeds also appeared. The owner’s servants came to him and said, ‘Sir, didn’t you sow good seed in your field? Where then did the weeds come from?’
“’An enemy did this,’ he replied. The servants asked him, ‘Do you want us to go and pull them up?’
“’No,’ he answered, ‘because while you are pulling the weeds, you may root up the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest. At that time I will tell the harvesters: First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned; then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn.’” – Matthew 13:24-30
And so, just like the weeds in Jesus’s parable, the yellowjacket nest underneath my tall planter box is allowed to exist during this growing season.
But just because the yellowjacket nest is being allowed to exist underneath my planter box that does not mean I am not aware of its presence. I can turn my phone to “selfie” mode … and slide my phone underneath the planter box to see what is underneath.
The last blog post talked about how God, as gardener, rejoices and delights over the spiritual growth he sees developing in each of our lives.
However, not all of us have lives which are growing spiritually.
Some of us have sin in our lives. Secret things. Hidden things which nobody can see.
And just like the yellowjacket slipping between the cracks in the planter box as I was outside delighting over all the new little “sprouts” … so also, some people’s lives have “yellowjackets” (of sin) slipping between the cracks in their lives.
“Yellowjackets” with stingers! Secret sins which will sting!
“Yellowjackets” (of sin) which will build an undesirable nest in their life. Secret sins which will grow until they become a “colony” of many sins in their life!
God is totally aware of the secret hidden sins in people’s lives. Just like I can turn my phone to “selfie” mode and slide it underneath the planter box to see the underside … so also, God can see the “underside” of people’s lives. God can clearly see what’s hidden “underneath.” God knows every thought and motive of our heart.
Just because God doesn’t take action to rip out that “hidden” sin from someone’s life, it does not mean he is not aware of it. It does not mean he will not punish that sin.
At the end of the growing season, when the poppies are done blooming and the seeds have been gathered and saved … the “secret” hidden yellowjacket nest will be ripped out and destroyed!
This is like the weeds in Jesus’s parable which were gathered and destroyed.
So also, in the same way, at the end of someone’s life, when their time on this earth is done and they stand before their Maker … the “secret” hidden nest of sin will be ripped out and destroyed!
Their life might have looked awesome from all outward appearances. They might have had beautiful poppies blooming up on top. But underneath there was a “yellowjacket” colony of sin!
“Do not be deceived; God is not mocked: for whatever a person sows, that they will also reap. The one who sows to please their sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Holy Spirit, from the Holy Spirit will reap eternal life.” – Galatians 6:7-8
“For there is nothing hidden that will not be disclosed, and nothing concealed that will not be known or brought out into the open.” – Luke 8:17
God sees the “underside” of our life. God sees what is “underneath.”
