In the gardening year,  March is the time to prepare the soil before planting.  Soil preparation  includes removing rocks, leveling the ground, tilling the soil, adding enrichments as needed and  making furrows or plowing.  Soil preparation is one of the most important tasks in gardening  ( ask any experienced  gardener).

In spiritual gardening, or gardening your heart with God, soil preparation is also vital.   When   we  evaluated our hearts and planned ways to try to get from where we see ourselves are to where we want to be,  we were beginning the soil  preparation work.   In March,  we will prepare our hearts for the plans  we made last month –taking out “stones” (problems) which we might stumble over  and  straightening  the “curves”  (temptations and distractions ) which may take us away from the desires of our heart.  We will smooth out  hills and valleys - as we lift our hearts where needed and fill in the valleys or level the hills of our hearts in line with God’s Truth.   (God will garden and promises us His ways are not beyond our abilities-(Deut 30:11)   We cannot completely understand God’s ways  but  He understands exactly what our unique situation is and will help us.

  Hearts  are  described  in many, many ways in the Bible-stony , divided, hard ,troubled, broken, peaceful, pure, new  made of flesh or  meltable.  Hearts are changeable  with God’s gardening , so this month we will   prepare our hearts  for God to garden.   Consider  how important John the Baptist’s ministry was to Jesus.   John the Baptist prepared the way before Jesus and , as Isaiah predicted ( Isaiah 40:3)” Clear the way through the wilderness for the Lord.  Make a straight highway through the wasteland for our God.  Fill in the valleys and level the mountains and hills. Straighten the curves and smooth out the rough places.”  This month, our task is to do this same type of  preparatory work  with the soil of our hearts.

Getting rid of some rocks-

Rocks in your path are problems  in your way – those habits in your life or circumstances which keep you from doing what your heart desires.   The small rocks you can get rid of easily and the big ones take lots of time, patience and energy.   Review your plans and think about what in your  life  is keeping you  from doing what your  heart desires ( your  plan)?  What can you do about it?  Think!   For some “rocks” , prayer is the only effort you may  think of  - other people and  the society you live with is in God’s hands,  not yours- only God can change  another person’s heart.    Why haven’t you prayed to God or changed your habits to try to do what is in your  plan before?  

  Some  “rocks” in you path will be manageable when you consider them.  Sometimes you just have to adjust your schedule to have time to work on the things in your heart- time to read, to think and to experiment.  You will be able to find a time or place  to pray .  You will be able to remind yourself with something physical  ( like a bracelet or other object you decide to associate with your desire to remind yourself)  to say something kind, or useful  ( whatever your goals may be).    You can place   a sheet of paper  with a prayer written on it under your pillow or put your message to God some where you will  have to notice it and speak faithfilled words.  Your  plan will include  finding  help and  support  from the Bible,so you will want to carve out alone time to read and time to really think about what the spiritual message is.    Many “rocks” you can figure out a way to get around or remove. ( Later in the year you will use these rocks (problems) to build beautiful stone walls for your protection- there is always a usefulness, a lesson to learn , from the rocks if you reuse them with God’s Wisdom.)   Perhaps  by  getting up earlier to make time  ( which may mean getting to bed earlier too)  .  You may find you must  say “no” to some activities  and have to make  tough choices.   Consider with God and decide which experiences He may be bringing  for your  good.   Keep God  first  in your considerations as a  challenge - it is so easy to forget Him in our daily lives and to feel alone but  He is always there.

God does not want us to wear ourselves out but is kind and gentle. Do not get so set and determined  in your ways ( your new goals for your life) that you restrict movement and all become stale or too much.  Life is flowing somehow within bounds- like a river .  “Laws” are written in your heart  (Jer 31:33) .  Do not try to understand God’s  gardening….just keep twanting  God to speak  to your heart through His Words  in the Bible.  You are planning good, right?  Trust God will be with your efforts.

 Some rocks in your way will be too largeand dangerous  for you to clear away alone.  There are times to get an experienced landscaper ( i.e. someone with  practical knowledge of how to work with your “rock”).  If you try first on your own and the problem doesn’t change – God will let you know in your heart  just by that effort  and the non- response of the rock.

Straightening  out the curves-

To  straighten out the curves in your path,  go over your plans for  distractions and temptations  which may keep you from what you want..   We each have our own distractions and temptations  ( God’s amazing Way).  What is  stopping  you from reading a book about courage( or whatever you are working on)?

One distraction we all have today  is  the constant drone of the  media surrounding us .  We cannot even go to the grocery store without being bombarded with messages…Try to minimize disturbing messages ( what’s the usefulness of those?)   -TV programs which make you angry or fearful , those programs which show dishonesty or something outside God’s  Ways.  Keep worrisome or anger- invoking  news to a useful amount – do not let it be a constant “mulch”  for your heart..

  Consider limiting your exposure to people  ( they may even be friends ) who are always complaining, worried or angry about something .They may be causing you to get upset, to be afraid or angry.    Gently let them know their negative effect on you.  ( I am not good in this area – find a book or get advice from someone you see does this well.- I’m working  in this area myself this year- how not to   offend others  causing them to get angry- this is an area I’ll be experimenting with – I’m planning a few  different  seeds  to plant next month  and will see what grows….). 

Now is the time to make up new “scripts” for yourself  in keeping with your desire to change.  These take practice and refining to see in what ways we can help ourselves (God will help good intentions).  I had to put a “script” by the telephone so that when someone called me I would remember to ask for time to consider the other person’s request because I can be such a people pleaser.  Figure out what are your weak spots and search the scriptures for Wisdom  -it’s there.  Prepare. Prepare. Prepare.

 Focus on what you believe is pleasing to God instead of pleasing  to people.  Keep your goals in front of you.  What will distract you from creating a prayer or a list of scriptures to help you in troubling times?   You need to make useful things for yourself before  problems  arise if you can predict them.  Try to be prepared.   Many weeds will just sprout on their own – you will not be able to predict them ahead of time.  Others , like dandelions,  will come back to the same patch- especially  if there is no good plant put in it’s place to shade out the weed.  So, notice where you’ve seen problems in the past and plan to combat the weeds with good things not evil  Why harm yourself by staring at  the dandelions  for long?  Look and dwell with the beautiful plants- they do exist and are not a fantasy….

Guard your path from temptations .  Just like if you were starting a diet, you would throw away all the chocolate, if there are temptations in your life which  pull you from what you intend to do, try to eliminate or reduce these in your life. Keep yourself occupied with your good plans.   Join groups that do good as their goals.  If you are in too many groups which are not very productive of good things,  get out of some of them to clear the way so you have time to pursue other things ( which may be time alone with God’s Word). 

Leveling the hills and valleys-

Hills and valleys can suggest any extremes in your heart.  Some of these exaggerated  or depressed ways of  thinking may be in your plan as an area identified to  let God’s gardening  smooth out  creating a peaceful, loving garden in your heart- undisturbed by the ups and downs of this troubled world.

For example,  you may want to reduce a mountain  of pride- of exalting  yourself (the hills)    or  you may want to raise up a low spot of despair – of condemning yourself  ( the valleys)!    God loves all of us.   He commanded us to love Him and  to love each other AS ourselves -not more than or less than.  Figure out what your tendancy is and try to overcompensate for a while as training for your mind.  If self worth ( condemning yourself)  is a concern- practice feeling slightly superior-considering yourself slightly more blessed than others. .   ( From a gardener’s point of view,  this is like adjusting the acidity  of the soil- since it reverts to type    -we gardeners must use tons of alkali ( the opposite)   to adjust  an acid soil)   I can only guess that the Philippians , like myself, had a problem with pride when Paul  wrote to them     to think of others as better than themselves ( Phil. 2:3)- Paul  must have  known how useful  it can be  to overcompensate for your weaknesses  as  God trains your heart  to be True.  –– God sees  the beauty and usefulness in each of us  and loves us all  tremendously .  Be sure the way you see others is even handed and fair- for justice is God’s way.  Level the hills and valleys….

Adding enrichments-

When turning  the soil, gardeners often  add enrichments.  So, in the preparation of your heart include  enrichments like-  care of your body.  Give your body healthy food, plenty of rest, fresh water and exercise. Your body is God’s temple.  It is a gift from God through your parents.    A walk can be a chance to be alone or a chance to be in community- whichever fits your desires, your plans.  Being as healthy as you  can helps God garden by keeping things moving ….keeping things fresh- like moving streams or blood which cleanses the body and mind-somehow ( only  God understands how).  Do not fight what you know in your heart to be true.  It’s hard to develop  new habits  and takes time.  Use patience and gentleness and new ways can take root in a month or so.  Just one small thing- go from sweet soda to water (saves money and is good for you) , or from no exercise to taking one walk in nature each week.  New energy will come ( God’s gardening) to help you follow your heart’s desires .

Other good things to deliberately add to your life are God’s gifts of Joy, Love and Peace.  These things are freely given so take some for yourself.   If you are used to the agitation, the heaviness of fears, the discord, the coldness of hate, arguments in your life, mean,  unencouraging  places-be prepared to be uncomfortable  ( at first)  with the calm of peace, the lightness of joy and the warmth of love.  It’s a new heart and takes getting used to .  Even a good thing needs time to get adjusted to.  Keep your true desires in front of you .  Embrace the good thoughts and allow yourself to get adjusted to a new heart. 

How do you fill your conversations now?  If not with hate…..   What do you talk about or think about if it isn’t problems?  (now that you are trusting God)   How to fill the void?  Speak of beauty, loving, encouraging ideas, hopes for the future.    (Phil 4:8)  “Fix your thoughts on what is true and honorable and right and pure and lovely  and admirable.”    Get involved with doing good- look for it –it is there.  Look for others who have  calm, peace , joy and love in their hearts.   The Holy Spirit will let you know what is in another person’s heart .  Keep in mind no person is  perfect only  God is perfect.  But others want the same good spiritual gifts of love and peace like you do . There are others trying to learn God’s Way.   Spend time listening and watching for good in others- God is gardening the hearts of others also.  . We must all learn how to turn from evil and learn to do good.  This is God’s gardening, not human ability. To forgive.  To be generous.   It is between you and God- personal work.  What better work can you think of to do?  Rejoice that tomorrow is another day, fresh and new.  Love ( turn from those evil thoughts to good ones)  the new beginnings each day.

 Everyone deserves to feel Joy-  look at something beautiful and feel the joy and thank God.   .  Find the joy in little things. Focus on the  Joy i.   Eat a sweet apple in season and marvel at the taste with joy.   It is a human  sensation, a part of life, which is a free gift from God.  Find what things bring you joy and spend at least one minute doing or thinking about  something which brings you joy- sing?, dance? Eat? Sleep?  . Plan and prepare for it.   ( Now if someone has just died, please use Wisdom –you have it,  Use the wisdom God has given you to know when sorrow rather than joy is appropriate- the rule is in your heart, in your compassion )   Going with joy among the sorrows of this life  takes work but what choice do we have?  God has given us the ability to feel  pleasure so take the time to appreciate the gift. Say thank you and give God His due glory.  If you read this  paragraph and say it’s for someone else- reread it and DO IT for His  sake.   Do not enjoy  sitting  with the weeds

Also, take time to experience peace.  It may  take  time to find  the feeling of peace in this world of troubles.   At first,  if you have not had peace in your life you may mistake it for boredom, lack of something….If you are used to fighting  or disagreeing with others  and loud noise , the peacefulness of just being in the same room with another in silence or listening to others and accepting their views as just that- their views and not having to make them like you – this peace may feel awkward.   When you learn to turn from  evil thoughts in your mind,   you must be prepared for an emptiness-and quickly  fill it with doing good or the evil thoughts will just come back.   ( Learn from God (reading   the Gospels) how evil works.  Eventually, it will become a habit to think peaceful thoughts, but at first you must constantly remind yourself over and over.  (Trust God to be in charge of all).

   What your heart desires is  love and peace , not hate.    Since hate brings back hate,  you must be prepared to respond with love.  ( very , very hard at first but it gets easier with practice.)    When someone says something insulting or mean our natural , easy tendency is to send hate right back.  Remember you want love, not hate and so you must  sacrifice your desire to retaliate (very strong) and be silent .  Later , with God you can do good  This is learning how to turn from evil and do good.  Be  prepared with good things to think about-.  God will amazingly help ,train you to use  good thoughts to rule over the evil ones.   Chose to garden the plants of the light( kindness, gentleness, honesyt and gratefulness -to name a few)   to be in your heart.  The plants of the dark.(miserable, depressed fearful and angry) will always be there.( God’s Way not a human way).    You will be filled with joy when you see the truth of love bringing back love when you try it next month when you sow.  Ps 19:14  50:23   Lev 1:9

Get up each morning and think of the joyful experience you have planned for this day, the peace you know you will experience as you read His Word,  and the Love you have of Truth growing in your heart as God gardens more and more in your heart.   (Why  think about problems and complain? –you are punishing yourself!  And not helping others around you.)   Run  to the Gardener in your heart.  He alone can give good gifts!

Tilling the soil or plowing

Tilling the soil breaks up the hard ground in a garden .  It churns the earth over and over.  To do this work of keeping the soil of your heart soft and pliable-( a place for good seeds to grow), I find meditating on a psalm which speaks to my heart is useful. 

Each morning I try to remember  the truth that God is in charge and that I do not have the answers to everything in this life.  I must immediately remind myself  to cast my cares and  to trust His way.  Let Him be my guide when I feel overwhelmed (every day)  since I do not know where to go….( Definitely God’s way not mine!  I want an instruction manual)  The psalms do that for my heart. 

 For God’s own reason, it is easy for our hearts to be hard-to be in a critical, finger-pointing, hateful mood - angry and worried….and for God’s own reason, it  takes lots of work to love , to plow the soil.  (Must be why He had to command us love- He knew he would not have to command us to have angry thoughts)    This difficult  way  (Loving instead of hating)  takes energy and time.   (God’s way)   We will always slip back into the dark- that hard clay soil full of weeds.  It happens if the soil isn’t tilled.  Trust God’s Way.  They are His weeds!   Each time I fail to be loving,(turning from evil and doing good)  I just say to God- “here I am again,  thinking about all these silly weeds – Help me!   You made me to be like this!….help me to be in your peace, joy and love instead of the weeds. “ and  He  show s us  the way to what we  desire in our hearts…. )  Responding in His Love to all is a challenge for a lifetime!  It means we must keep the soil in our hearts pure and soft.  Tilling the soil is work that does not come to an endpoint in gardening, but  when March ends,  it will be  time to start planting….so, prepare what you can this month.

 Isaiah 2824 

  “Does a farmer always plow and never sow?  Is he forever cultivating the soil and never planting?  Does he not finally plant his seeds…..each in its proper way and each in its proper place?  The farmer knows just what to do, for God has given him understanding.”

Next month we plant!