Fiona Veitch Smith

A Gardener’s Gospel – week 22

The Hound from Hell has struck again – the flippin’ dog has just decapitated my tiger lilies! I’m furious! There was a crop of about a dozen of them, in full bud and ready to bloom. Then this morning I checked on them and saw that all but one has had their heads chopped off. Chomped off, is more like it. I didn’t actually see the mutt do it, but I know it’s her. Last year I caught her in the act with petal entrails stuck to her muzzle. Last year I forgave her as she was only four months old, but this year I really didn’t expect it; I thought she’d grown out of it.

On the prowl

She’s finally stopped digging up the lawn, and by erecting two low fences I’ve kept her out of her ‘favourite’ flower beds (well, most of the time) so doggy damage has been on the decline – until now. I really don’t know what to do about it. Ho hum.

It reminds me of that verse in the Bible that says:

Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him and stand firm in the faith.
1 Peter 5:8 – 9a

No longer alert

We always say that the devil strikes when we least expect it. However, looking back, we can often see that it was the perfect time for the devil to strike. We had allowed our self-control to slip and had stepped into complacency, no longer alert – just as I had been with the dog. There is a fine balance between being alert to the wiles of the enemy and being in a constant state of paranoia that he’s about to attack any minute. In my early Christian life I spent so much time in ‘spiritual warfare’ that I barely had time for anything else. Now, I focus more on getting my life right with God so that the devil will not have a foot-hold (Eph 4:27).

Defence through holiness

As we mature in our Christian walk we need to move from a position of waiting for the devil to attack to living a life where he would find it difficult to attack in the first place. This is where the ‘self-control’ element of Peter’s admonition comes in. Self-control is a conscious level of co-operation that allows God’s holiness to grow in our lives.

In a recent quiet time, God told me that he wanted me to shine and to beware of the things that would dull me. He then went on to list specific sins and struggles – all of them within my control. We’ve spoken a lot about the fruit of the Spirit in this series, and one of them is self-control. We need to get away from our victim mentality that says that the devil can ‘steal’ our joy, peace, patience etc. The devil can only tempt us into these things; it is still our responsibility whether or not we give into that temptation – this is how we resist in faith.

When we are weak

Oh, but sometimes it’s really hard. When our weakness is rooted in years of pain, hurt and insecurity, we barely feel we have a chance to make a conscious choice not to succumb. But that’s where God comes in. When we are weak He is strong and when we feel we can resist no longer, we can call Him and He will strengthen us. The problem is, we don’t even take the time to do that, feeling that our slip into sin is inevitable.

I know a woman with an explosive temper. When under stress she flares up and lashes out. Afterwards, she feels bad and usually apologises, but never fully takes responsibility. She just says: ‘I’m sorry, but that’s just the way I am. I’ve always been like that. I have a nervous disposition and can’t help it.’

Taking responsibility

Now I’m not immune to flares up of temper myself – particularly under stress. However, unlike this woman, I’m well aware that it is my fault. Yes, I seem to have a ‘natural’ disposition towards it, but natural does not mean that it can’t be changed. There are many metaphors for the ‘natural’ in the Bible: the ‘old man’, ‘mortal body’, ‘sinful nature’ etc. This does not mean we believe in a Gnostic dualism (the created world is wholly bad, and the spiritual wholly good) but that the natural, created, mortal self without an infusion of God’s Spirit, is naturally inclined to evil. The former is frequently referred to as being ‘under law’, the latter ‘under grace’.

Free from sin

Through Jesus Christ the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son … (so that) we do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit.
Romans 8:2-3a & 4.

Now where does that leave me and my tiger lilies? Well, I need to continue helping the hound choose to exercise self-control and myself not to sin in my anger. Easier said than done!

A fool gives full vent to his anger, but a wise man keeps himself under control.
Proverbs 29:11