If I Were Satan...

I'd take one look at that Vine and I'd set out to demolish it.

If I were smart, I'd start out when the vine was small, when it was easy to tackle. Before it laid years worth of roots under the ground that I would have to slowly and painfully uncover.

One summer I'd hire somebody to cut it all off the fence and spray it with vine killer. It would work. Temporarily.

The next summer I'd mostly leave it alone. Hacking away a little at it's leaves and throwing them in the trash. Over all I would just look at it with frustration.

Another year I would look back in the yard and I would see that the Vine had hopped off the fence and attached itself to my tree. I would trim the tree and Vine away from each other and set out on a mean streak to kill that Vine.

I would wear my gloves. I would pull out multiple trash bags. I would work in the morning, afternoon and evening. I would work when my kids were awake and when they were asleep. I would work all day long. I would enlist the help of my husband.

I would start with the leafy abundance at the top of the fence and use all my strength to cut it, rip it off and throw it away. I would cut the roots close to the bottom of the fence, realizing for every root I cut there were a hundred more. I would throw away the grapes that had grown on the Vine. It would be a lot of work.

I would keep hacking away until sweat was pouring off my face. I would see that so much of the Vine was gone, yet so much remained. I would contemplate jumping the fence and taking care of the Vine on my neighbor's side of the fence. I would look around my feet and see leaves littered all over the ground. I would see the dead Vine from summers' past still attached to my fence.

Eventually, I would uncover the root ball. I would be impressed at the enormity of it. I would use my tools to cut away as much of it as I could, shrinking it as small as possible. I would dig around it and cut around it, realizing minimal progress each time. I would put all my weight on the shovel and try to break the ground around it. I would realize that even if I dug that root up out of the ground there would still be a system of roots underneath that would only come back again. I would stand on top of the root and bounce up and down seeing that it would barely budge with all my weight.

I would give up  in defeat. I would have put so much work in to killing that Vine and it would still be alive at the root. I would give up. For now. I would have to come up with a new plan of attack. Maybe a root killer would do the trick. Maybe my husband could dig up that root ball. I would find a way. I would know the danger of leaving that Vine unattended, so I wouldn't wait long for fear of losing all my hard work. I would know that if I left it, it would take over my yard and I wouldn't even be able to make a dent. I would come back, with a vengeance.

"The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly." John 10:10

"For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord." Romans 8:38-39