Spiritual Aeration

The conversation with my son last week went something like this: 

Me:  What did you do this weekend?

Brandon:  Oh, I _____ed, and _______ed, and _______ed, and I aerated, seeded and fertilized our yard.

Aerated your yard?  What in the world is that??  My husband and I have had lots of yards and never once have we ever aerated any of them!!

Well!  The competitive side of me reared its ugly head and I decided we should aerate our yard too!!  Hummmm….what to do….what was that and how does one go about aerating their yards?  Neither my husband nor I love to do yard work so after moving to Indianapolis we contracted with a company who comes by several times a year and fertilizes it.  I contacted that company and sure enough….they do aeration!!  And, as a matter of fact, they can "squeeze us in before it is too late to have it done"!

What?  Too late?  There is a time frame for this??  Goodness gracious the things I know nothing about!!  The very next day they appear at my door ready to aerate and seed and fertilize.  In case you, like me, do not know what aeration is, it is a process that pulls plugs of soil to help relieve soil compaction which allows the grass to better absorb air and water.  It also gives the lawn’s roots room to grow and thrive.  Hummmm…..interesting!  Sure enough, our yard had become hard.  There were patches of dirt where no grass was growing.  There were places where water would not seep into the soil because of the hard ground.

Our yard needed to have holes poked into it and plugs pulled out of it so that water and seed and air could permeate and so that our lawn would be healthy and green and lush.  Here’s the hard part—our poor yard had to endure a large machine rolling all over it and poke painful holes into the ground.  It was loud.  Painful.  Necessary.

As I pondered what was happening to our yard, the Lord spoke to my heart and told me that I have needed spiritual aeration!  My heart can become hard and then the water of the Word washes right off of it instead of seeping deep into my soul.  Seed does not take root.  I then become hardened to the things of God and am in desperate need of spiritual aeration.

 
Ahhhh….so how does God aerate my heart?  The same way the large, heavy, loud, machine rolled over the yard poking painful holes and pulling out plugs aerates our yard, the pressure of trials, disappointments, and suffering aerates our hearts.  Yes!  I can picture holes being poked into my heart—painful yes—but so needed so that His seed and water can be absorbed!!

Also, I wonder if just like the lawn is aerated by removing plugs of dirt and leaving holes in the ground, if when God removes people or things or dreams from our lives it, too, is a form of spiritual aeration.  He does it in our lives as individuals and He also does it in our churches.

He will remove plugs that are people—oh how painful it is when people leave our church or our lives!  We want them to stay!!  But could it be God is removing them so that our Body can better absorb air and water and seed? 

So, let’s call out to the Gardener of our hearts and ask Him if we need some spiritual aeration!!  Perhaps you are being aerated right now and it is painful—rest in it—don’t fight it—it will bring about much growth and lushness and beauty!!  And, if you have ever had your yard aerated....let me know what applications and/or insights you might have!!