We have lived in the same home since we were married, which has
been almost 36 years ago and we feel very fortunate to be living in the country
where we have open land all around us. Waking up each morning and being able to
look out over the surrounding fields, is something I treasure and never want to
take for granted.
Another perk to living where we do is that we can have a
garden. Now to some of you, that
wouldn’t seem like a positive thing, but for us it is. There is nothing better than being able to go
out and pick fresh vegetables that have no chemicals on them. It’s also great to be able to can some of the
contents of our garden so that we can enjoy the bounty all winter long.
But gardening doesn’t come without its problems. There are various animals around us that
sometimes think we are gardening for them and so they feast on what is meant
for us. Weather also plays a role on how
successful our garden is because not enough rain stifles the growth and too
much rain can drown out the plants. Each
year is different, but it’s almost always worth the effort to make it
successful.
So far this summer, we have had an overabundance of rain. We appreciate the moisture but the problem
has been that we have been receiving inches of rain at one time, which has
caused standing water in the garden.
Fortunately, each time it has drained rather quickly and our plants
haven’t suffered.
But when you mix heavy rain with high winds, there can be more
lasting effects. Last week we received
three inches of rain in a short amount of time, accompanied by high winds, and
as a result our corn was laying flat to the ground when it was over. I had a sick feeling when I looked out our
window and saw the flattened stalks. All
that can be done at that point is wait.
Wait to see if the roots were deep enough and the stalks were strong and
pliable enough to bounce back. If the
roots are too shallow, the corn can easily become uprooted and if they are too
weak and brittle, they can easily snap off.
As you can see from this picture, at this point it looks like our crop
is slowly straightening and will hopefully be in an upright position soon.
As I’ve checked the corn each day since our storm, I’ve thought
about how much this is like our Christian walk.
As long as everything is going well in our lives with no unexpected
detours or disasters, our “stand” is usually pretty strong. When others look at us they see someone who
seems to have their act together and is living life as we should. But, unfortunately, when the storms of life
roll in, they sometimes cause us to quickly “flatten” to the ground and we
quickly appear to be quite “weathered”.
Just like our corn though, time will tell whether the life storm
that hit us will have a lasting effect. More than likely, it will depend on how deep
our roots were in Christ when it hit and whether we are pliable enough to be
molded by Him. We need to remember that
Christ often uses difficult times to make us into a follower that looks more
like Him. But we have to be willing to
let Him sand the rough edges off of us so that our stand for Him will have a
larger impact on eternity.
If your life is going fairly smooth right now, I want to urge
you to spend this time growing your roots deeper in Christ. Use this time to study His Word and allow His
Spirit to speak to you. As you learn
from Him, you will become a pliable clay in His hands which will help you
bounce back quicker after storm clouds roll through.
If you are in the middle of the storm right now, I want to urge
you to hang on. We read in 2 Corinthians
4:17-18, “For our present troubles are
small and won’t last very long. Yet they
produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever. So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now;
rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone,
but the things we cannot see will last forever.” Even though your current storm seems like
it may never end, you can hold onto Christ’s Word, trusting that what is to
come far outweighs these difficult days.
When the storm is over, it may seem like you have been flattened
with no hope of standing on your feet again.
Just give yourself some time. With
your roots firmly planted in Christ, He will give you the strength to once
again stand firm as a testimony to His strength and power. It is so imperative that others see that we
can weather the storms of life because of our relationship with Him. Then,
because of your faithfulness and His, others will see the bounty of fruit that
your life has produced which is bound to impact those around us. That my friend will make all of our storms
worthwhile, when we see others begin their
journey of planting their roots in Christ.
No comments:
Post a Comment