Tired of Briars

June 21, 2023

I am so tired of weeds and briars. I don’t know if it’s a Southern thing only, but it certainly is a nuisance in Georgia. I can yank the thorny, climbing things out of a flower bed and get it looking really good, but those briars sneak back in, in a couple of weeks. Why can’t they just admit defeat? I’d rather go on to other things.

I think I’d call this a chronic condition. Webster says a “chronic” condition is “long-lasting and difficult to eradicate.” In other words, you fight it all the time, with no end in sight.

I wonder about folks with chronic health issues. (I’m not thinking about weight problems.) (Maybe I should be.). What’s it like to battle everyday back pain? How does a person deal with a bad and painful knee? How about diabetes? Is this anything like fighting briars?

I remember the apostle Paul talked about some kind of chronic condition he had. He asked God three times to heal him of it, but God just said “My grace is sufficient for you.” In other words, God said he’d continue to help him live with it.

I’m not just tired of briars. I’m also tired of a chronic condition called “sin.” I wish I didn’t have to live with evil in the world, or things going wrong, or my own disobedience. I wish I could always do right, and everybody else, too. I can’t help but believe that there is, like the Bible says, an evil power that is constantly fighting to mess up all God has made right. I Peter 5:8 says, “Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.”

God’s grace is enough. I don’t deserve his care, as I fight the briars of sin, but I’m learning to lean more on God each day.