Embrace Your AlmostSample

Weeding Out the Lies

When we’re living through an in-between season (and much of our lives we are), it can be easy to believe the lies of comparison or to have a victim mentality: Life is working out for everyone but me.

Jesus tells us that Satan is the father of lies and “when he lies, he speaks his native language” (John 8:44). Getting rid of those toxic thoughts is crucial to being able to hear what God wants to do in us and through us.

Do you want to know what helped me get rid of those repetitive lies during a particularly hard time in my life? Ripping out weeds.

I don’t say that as a cute metaphor. I mean it literally.

It was a late summer weekend when I decided to catch up on yard work. Many of the weeds in our garden had grown as tall as me. At first, they came out of the ground with a little tug, but then I found some real beasts that had developed roots like those of a small tree.

As I pulled with all my might, I decided to do something I’d never done before. I assigned each weed a lie that had begun to take root in me.

“This is the lie that God has forgotten about me.”

“This is the lie that I’m a failure.”

“This is the lie that my business projects will always fall short of my goals.”

“This is the lie that my dreams are doomed to end in disappointment.”

For the first time in months, I didn’t feel like a weak and hopeless woman overcome by despair. I felt that I had some say over what I’d allow to take root in my life . . . and what I absolutely would not. I encourage you to do the same.

Consider some of the lies you’ve been believing as a result of your own broken heart, unmet expectations, or disrupted dreams. Then assign them to a physical activity. It doesn’t have to be pulling weeds. Perhaps you can clean out a closet and get rid of old items you don’t need. Assign a lie to each item as you put it in the trash or the donation bag. It doesn’t matter what you do; just do something that helps you name the lies you’ve been believing and how much you want to dig up the poisonous roots they have grown in your heart.