I have a confession. This likely will not be a surprise for those of you that know me well, but I am not a tidy gardener. I love perennials, and I especially enjoy collecting them from friends. I have plants in my flower gardens that I have carried through 5 moves. It brings me great joy to divide the plants, move them around in my yard, and to share them with others. Sadly, while I treasure the plants I collect, I don’t keep good records of what I have planted and where. This can make for a fun surprise when I watch them emerge and bloom in the spring – it is a little like an unexpected visit from an old friend!
The bad part of my negligence is that I don’t always know what is popping up each spring. Occasionally I lose plants because I mistake them for weeds – and that is what almost happened to one of my favorite plants this spring. A clump of what appeared to be grass was growing in the flower bed close to my door. I have been watching it for several weeks and thought about pulling it up. I could blame distraction and laziness for leaving it there to grow, but there was a nagging thought that prompted a wait-and-see attitude regarding the plant. This week, buds appeared atop tall, straight stems and suddenly I remembered! It was my “Star of David” flower. I was so thankful I had waited.
There have been so many times that experiences have cropped up in my life in the same way. I regard them just like that “clump of grass.” I’m often tempted to disregard, dismiss, or devalue the experience just because I cannot see a beautiful bloom or edible fruit. However, if I am faithful to wait, patient enough to allow it to exist – I may be rewarded by recognizing the value of that experience later.
God wastes nothing. While He may not be the author of a difficulty in our lives, He will always use the hard things to strengthen us, grow us, and prepare us. Whether the experience was birthed out of our own poor choices, the ill will of others, the evil of the enemy, or the discipline of the Father, it may prove valuable and it might even bloom into an opportunity to encourage others!
” Is your life full of difficulties and temptations? Then be happy, for when the way is rough, your patience has a chance to grow. So let it grow, and don’t try to squirm out of your problems. For when your patience is finally in full bloom, then you will be ready for anything, strong in character, full and complete.”
James 1:4 (Children’s Living Bible)
The truth is that we may not be able to discern which experiences are weeds and which are valuable plants until they have fully developed. But God always knows. We need to rely on the Holy Spirit for discernment and not rush to rip them out of our lives. What difficulties are you experiencing right now? Instead of asking for them to be taken away, could you ask God to strengthen you through the suffering and use you to comfort someone else who walks a similar path?
“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.”
2 Corinthians 1: 4