01/03/2019
In times of peace and plenty it is easy to maintain our faith, and to remember the gift of redemption that God has given us through Jesus Christ, but when we are faced with suffering and hardship this is when our faith is placed in the furnace and dipped in the water that strengthens it. We weep and begin to question God, mistaking what we have always held to be valuable and real in our lives to be more precious than Him who tempers us... above Him who redeems us.
“Sing for joy, O heavens, and exult, O earth; break forth, O mountains, into singing! For the Lord has comforted his people and will have compassion on his afflicted.”
Isaiah 49:13 ESV
Much suffering comes in life, but if we keep to our knees in prayer, and trust in God and His Word, then all those things that are working together... the suffering, the hardship, the laughter, and the memories... all things... will work together to produce good for those who love the Lord.
My father in law was a master gardener, and he had a particular type of plant in his garden that some would find untenable. Early in the year these bushes would grow full and green, and their new stems were covered in soft harmless thorns, but as these stems became older their thorns became larger, sharper, harder, and would pierce you and draw blood. Each prick caused pain and the wound would become red and sore for a long while after receiving it. But as spring progressed towards summer these same plants produced magnificently beautiful and aromatic blooms from amidst the thorns, and they made all of the pain and the festering pricks worthwhile. He chose to grow these plants knowing that they would prick him, but he did so because in the end they produced such great beauty and their fragrant flowers were so pleasing. This is our faith, and these thorns of life are our suffering, but just as my father in law looked beyond the thorns towards the blooms that would most certainly come, we should look beyond our suffering to the beauty of our faith in Christ. It was the promise of the roses that that drove my father in law, and Jesus is the rose that crowns the thorny plants we experience in our lives; in Him the sharp pricks of the Bush are soon forgotten amidst the lush green, the gorgeous color, and the sweet aroma of the rose. He makes life worth living, and it’s pain bearable.
“But Zion said, "The Lord has forsaken me; my Lord has forgotten me."”
Isaiah 49:14 ESV
So when we are in the fall of the year and the blossoms are falling away, or in the cold of winter when the barren branches of the bush stab and grab at us, do we remember the rose? In the spring when long stalks covered in new instruments of pain shoot forth, do we have faith in the coming blooms? Or, do we give up on these plants and burn them on the rubbish heap? Is our faith lost in the flame and smoke?
“"Can a woman forget her nursing child, that she should have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you. Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are continually before me.”
Isaiah 49:15-16 ESV
Like my father in law, we should remember why we grow rose bushes. Like Jesus, we should remember that our suffering must be endured so that the ultimate beauty of salvation can spring forth in all its magnificence and glory. Sometimes it becomes hard to look past our pain. Sometimes we enter into the fall, then the winter, and all we seem to have left to us are the memories. Yet even in our memories we have the beautiful vision of roses, and can still smell the sweet fragrance of them... but we also have our faith in the spring; the knowledge that all things do work together for good, and the promise of being reunited with our joy in eternity. We hold to our faith in Jesus Christ the Eternal Rose.
“The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad; the desert shall rejoice and blossom like the crocus; it shall blossom abundantly and rejoice with joy and singing. The glory of Lebanon shall be given to it, the majesty of Carmel and Sharon. They shall see the glory of the Lord, the majesty of our God. Strengthen the weak hands, and make firm the feeble knees.”
Isaiah 35:1-3 ESV
Prayer:
Father, thank you for the bold aroma of faith that springs forth from the pain and suffering in our life. Thank you for our loved ones who we have had for a season, and all of the wonderful memories of them that we are left with as we hold firm to your promise of joining them once again in eternity with you. Interspersed within our joy and happiness are life’s trials and those things that challenge our faith; help us Holy Father to hold tight to your Word, the promises you have made to us in Jesus Christ, and of life everlasting with you. Not everything in this life is pleasant, and we will face much pain and sorrow, but through it all will arise a stronger and more polished faith that will lead us to the ultimate good that awaits us. This is your promise, and this is my hope... your truth, and a stone in the foundation of my faith. Holy, Holy, Holy, are you my God who strengthens me, and makes the prick of life’s thorns bearable as I look forward to the Rose. Great are you who leads me past the thorns, and keeps the memory of your precious Rose fresh in my mind... in my faith.
Rich Forbes