Lawn Mowing & the Holy Spirit

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I know the photo above looks strange and morbid, but please hear me out before making any final judgment.

Today I was mowing the lawn. It’s not something that I especially enjoy doing unless the temperature is below 75 degrees (which is never), so I was hurrying along and making good progress. In fact, I was nearly finished when I heard the unfortunate sound of something other than grass hitting the blade, and our mulching mower spit a little shape about three feet to my right.

Upon closer examination I discovered the sad little plastic animal pictured above. It’s a part of a Noah’s Ark set that we bought for Brynna several months ago and that she plays with every day.

I was immediately struck by a strong pang of sadness over the sight. I quickly picked up the animal and tucked it into my pocket, hoping that nobody saw the slaughter take place, and planning to give the little fellow a private burial deep in our trash can before anyone found out.

As I pushed the mower back around to the garage, I realized how strange my reaction was. Bizarre, in fact. Maybe it was partially because it could have been avoided. If I had been paying closer attention, maybe I would have seen the little guy before I ran over him. Or maybe I reacted the way I did because it was one of Brynna’s favorite toys.

While both of those explanations certainly had something to do with my response, I was left with a more lasting and powerful thought. This mangled plastic creature was a vivid picture of the effects of sin. In the same way that the mower blade marred the little giraffe – a broken promise, an angry response, a lustful thought – our sins mar us and those we love.

“What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!” – Romans 7:24-25

May the image sink deep into my mind and bind me close to Christ as I place my hope in Him.

4 thoughts on “Lawn Mowing & the Holy Spirit

  1. There is so much of God’s ways, His universal laws and His working in us that can be illustrated in the garden-planting,caring for and maintaining. On Saturday Chuck and I cleaned out a flower bed full of weeds and pruned overgrown yaupon hollies for a customer. The yaupon hollies had been overtaken by whiteflies and the branches on the trees were a twisted,intertwined, mangled, air flow deprived mess. The trees had been planted but not properly cared for and were in desperate need of a good pruning. Now some in the gardening world would say; Oh you should let the trees grow naturally, let them be and grow as they will. Leave them alone. As I looked up through those yaupon trees I could see branches that had twisted and become contorted in the pursuit of needed air and light. Again it was a mangled mess. I could’nt just let them be. They needed space to breathe and light to live. How could I just leave them alone to die. When God looked down on me he saw a twisted, contorted mangled mess and praise God he did not say Oh I’ll just let her take the natural way of life, I’ll let her grow as she will and leave her alone. Thank-you God that you so loved me- you so love every person in the world as you say in the bible Your Word in John 3:16. Thank-you that you chose not to leave me alone to perish in sin but you sent The Master Pruner-Jesus Christ to give me light and breath and true life. Thank-you that you continue to prune me so that I grow stronger, healthier and bloom more profusely for you. Thank-you that you never will leave me alone. I pray that all people would allow you into their hearts for cleaning and pruning though it may be painful at first yet so compassionate and life-saving.

  2. These two accounts are examples of the creative and loving God we serve. His Word is sufficient to teach us what we need to know about His character and what He has done in our lives yet He still allows us to experience Him in our every day circumstances. He meets us in our activities, our work, and our every day life and beautifully reminds us of Him in the ordinary occurrences of our day.
    We were just sharing in our small group how precious the times are that we know God works in seemingly insignificant situations in our life, to show us His love and care for us. In the grand scheme of things, a person to sit with at dinner, an ornament or a cheaper plane ticker are not major but God chooses to reveal Himself in those times letting us as individuals share a sweet moment with Him, knowing He lovingly cares for our needs. What a creative, loving and personal God we have the opportunity to know.

  3. Hmmm…is it our sin nature that makes us want to hide away a loved ones’ toy that we have inadvertently mangled, or is it our love for our loved one that makes us want to spare them the pain of knowing?

  4. Abshelton, I think it’s probably a little bit of both. My love for my daughter makes me sad that her toy was destroyed, and the fallen world tempts me to respond in shame and hiding. It’s this second part that scares me. Any time I start feeling this way about anything I see it as a red flag – a warning sign – that my thinking isn’t right.

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