From a Brass-bound Stump
Because of her disability, my wife 'brings her garden inside' and is a dab hand with house plants. I never cease to marvel how she can grow beautiful plants from just a piece of leaf. One of her pride and joys is a magnificent maidenhair. With it's feathery green fronds, it has centre stage in our living room.
That is, until we returned home from a few days away, to find that some of it's leaves were turning brown. She realised if it continued like that, it could whither away and die, so drastic action was called for. She had to be cruel to be kind.
The stems were cut down to within an inch of the pot and the whole thing repotted in new soil. It must have been very uncomfortable for that plant to start with, as nothing seemed to be happening. I wondered if it was dead, but my wife knew better. Several weeks later, a tiny green shoot appeared and now we have the makings of a brand new maidenhair, looking fresher, greener and livelier than ever.
When we experience loss, we can be catapulted into a potentially painful scenario. Whether the loss of employment or health, bereavement, an accident, financial difficulty or whatever, it can leave us bewildered, even devastated. We may feel the whole situation is out of our control and that part of us is dying. Initially we may be in disbelief and want to escape from the situation and get back to what was. But as we adjust to the different 'soil' and yield to God and allow the Gardener to gently tend us, we begin to see the opportunities for growth and new life.
We may not be like King Nebuchadnezzar who suffered a period of mental anguish, before God restored him, but we may feel we have been cut back to a 'brass-bound stump.' However, we can be assured that as we look to God, we will come through. Things won't be the same, part of our life may have died, but there will be a new flow of God's life in us."Cut down the tree and trim off its branches; strip off its leaves and scatter its fruit. Let the animals flee from under it and the birds from its branches. But let the stump and its roots, bound with iron and bronze, remain in the ground, in the grass of the field." Daniel 4:14-15 New International Version
7 comments :
It always sounds a bit trite to say that suffering builds character, but it is so very true.
By the way, here you are: http://mulledvine.blogspot.com/2008/09/barnabas-award.html
"we will come through". Indeed, what a hope we have with God as our Father. Thanks.
What a beautiful writing. Thank you for sharing once again our walk with our Father. You coudn't of came up with a better name for your Blog. All that you write is so ennriched with the heart of our Father toward His Children. I thank you again and praise the Lord for using you in your writings to speak to others. This was very timely for me and very refreshing. God Bless you
I have learned a lot in my mom's passing over two years ago. Although she is not here on this earth, she left me something so precious that I will cherish for the rest of my life. She left me my faith in God. She taught me about the Lord as a young child and although I went my own way for awhile, what she instilled in me about God brought me right back to Him. Her death hurt me deeply, but it was my faith in God which got me through and for that I thank her. Beautiful my friend. Simply beautiful.
As we know from His Word, there is such a thing as 'the fellowship of suffering.' When we go through the 'fire', not only does it bring us closer to Him, but we tune in with other 'fellows' more easily. So thank you.
Hi, I was surfing the blogosphere, and found your blog. This post is great-I can relate to King Nebudchadnezzar, and being cut down to a stump. Yes a part of my old live died (I have a muscle disease), but God's love flows through my veins as never before. Adversity. It really hurts, but it teaches us great things if we let it. It can either make us bitter or better:)
God bless you!!
Welcome and thanks for your comments. I like the last line 'bitter or netter' - very important!
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