What’s Growing in Your Garden? (And How Did It Get There?)

Mark 9:24 (AMP)
²⁴ Immediately the father of the boy cried out [with a desperate, piercing cry], saying, “I do believe; help [me overcome] my unbelief

If you don’t know what the problem is, it is hard to find the solution. That is true naturally and spiritually. A well-known minister of the gospel shared a message that addresses the issue of unanswered prayer.  He said that the “go-to” answer when a prayer is not answered is often, “You just needed more faith.”  That answer leaves the issue unresolved and the one praying feeling anything but victorious.

This minister first explained why it is rarely a “faith” issue. He referred to Matthew 17:20 where Jesus said if you had faith as small as a mustard seed you could move mountains. Most of us would probably say we had at least “a little faith.” He then went on to use the analogy of a garden to get to the root issue behind unanswered prayer. He spoke of his own garden that had been unattended because his wife was ill. He noted that the garden was no longer producing the vegetables they had once planted because they were being squeezed out by weeds which had taken over. The obvious point from his personal example was that there was more than one seed growing in his garden.

Spiritually, the same can be said for the garden of our lives. Mark 4 tell the parable of The Sower. In this parable the Word of God is sown into different quality of soil types. The third type is the one that relates to the garden of our lives. In Mark 4:19 (New American Bible) it says, “but worldly anxiety, the lure of riches, and the craving for other things intrude and choke the word, and it bears no fruit.” This minister equated each condition mentioned in Mark 4:19 as seeds that are planted in our garden when we yield to their influence in our lives. As the Word says, each can choke off the Word in our lives. Together or even individually each of these things lead to unbelief in our lives. Unwittingly, when we allow these things to become our point of focus, a “seed” is planted that will eventually choke off the Word. That is why the man in Mark 9:4 could say, “I believe, help my unbelief.”

What about doubt? Are doubt and unbelief the same? They are different; it is possible to have both doubt and unbelief in our lives at the same time. Doubts come to most things we believe for. It is those times when for a short period we question whether we are on the right track or not. Doubt actually proves we believe. We wouldn’t doubt if we didn’t believe.  The real danger with doubt is that left unresolved doubt can result in unbelief.

How do we keep unbelief out of our garden? Only by changing our focus. We must not let the conditions mentioned in Mark 4:19 become what we focus on. The number one thing we should focus on is the character of God – which is beyond good. As we focus on His Goodness, those other things will begin to take up less of our thought life.  We will squeeze out the seeds that lead to unbelief. There is a saying that goes “What you focus on in life, you will find.” That is never more true than when you set your sights on the Goodness of God and His plan for your life.

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