Is “dirt” in your future?
Do you face the new year with hope for a fresh start, or do you dread the “dirt” you will encounter? In other words, do you fear that negative circumstances will cloud your vision?
We can’t face the future with clarity when anxiety whirls around us like a dust devil. It’s hard to embrace your destiny when calamities cloud your vision. And following a vision always involves personal growth.
Negative circumstances can become soil for personal growth.
However, negative circumstances can become soil for personal growth.
We don’t like to get dirty, do we? Mud on our knees or filth under our fingernails make us feel grimy and all we want to do is change our clothes and wash our hands. However, if we’ve planted a garden, dirt is a “good” thing. We sow seeds, water them, and watch them grow into something useful and beautiful. Dirt becomes soil. Soil is where growth happens.
I read the following article about how dirt becomes soil and found many spiritual parallels. The Difference Between Soil and Dirt
Dirt is bad and soil is good.
So why is dirt “bad,” but soil is “good”?
Dirt is in a place it doesn’t belong. Dirt on our hands causes disease, but dirt on the ground becomes soil.
When we take the trauma, sin, and negatives we experience and put them in the hands of Jesus, He washes them away. When He went to the cross, His blood atoned for every misstep and every curse. Think about it. If Jesus took away our sins, we don’t need to think about them anymore. When we dwell on our guilt, shame, or injustice it contaminates our minds like dirt.
Here’s another analogy. Do you ever feel bullied by the negative beliefs in your head? Beliefs like, “I will never measure up.” It can feel like we are facing a cage fighter. As we stand on the canvas in the middle of the “cage,” our opponent stares us down, sending chills down our spine.
So how do we get rid of the intimidating voices?
Wrestle those thoughts down and pin them to the ground! Jesus within us is the strength we need to overcome them.
Are you familiar with the “casting down vain imaginations” scripture? The Passion Translation gives it new life.
We can demolish every deceptive fantasy that opposes God and break through every arrogant attitude that is raised up in defiance of the true knowledge of God. We capture, like prisoners of war, every thought and insist that it bow in obedience to the Anointed One. 2 Corinthians 10:5
Hah! Can’t you just see Jesus in you pinning those ugly lies to the floor!
Remember, God has put all things under the feet of Jesus. That includes mindsets that keep us from moving forward in our destiny.
And He put all things [ in every realm] in subjection under Christ’s feet, and appointed Him as [supreme and authoritative] head over all things in the church… Ephesians 1:22 Amplified Version
So what about the “dirt” in your future? Remember, “dirt” on your hands [or in your mind] causes disease. But when we put it where it belongs, under the feet of Jesus, it can become soil, which leads to growth. Our negative experiences can foster fruitfulness.
To recap, dirt and soil look like the same thing, but they’re different.
Dirt on our person is in the wrong place, but when it’s on the ground, it can become soil.
Soil is where fruitfulness happens.
The dirt that clouds your future can’t sabotage your destiny. Just remember to put it under the feet of Jesus where it belongs.
Next week we will talk about how dirt becomes soil. What does it take to turn our negatives into positives?