But You, O Lord, are a shield for me, my glory
and the One who raises up my head. I cried to the Lord with my voice, and He
answered me from His holy hill. Selah.
Psalm 3:3-4, Modern English Version (MEV)
With all the terrible things that are going on in the world today, some of which have spilled over to impact our own lives, it is easy for us to be overwhelmed and forget what a great God we serve. We begin to wonder if God is paying attention, if God even cares, or maybe even if God is strong enough to deal with it all. This is particularly true when we see those, we would consider to be innocent being hurt the most by those who seem to have no regard for the lives of others.
Somewhere along the line we got this idea that by giving our lives to God, he would smooth out all the rough spots from that point on, that we would be living in a veritable rose garden the rest of our natural days. What we forgot is that roses have thorns, that they need a lot of tending, pruning, weeding, and debugging. This whole "rose garden" life thing is a fantasy someone dreamed up that is devoid of reality. Unfortunately, we fell for the fantasy, only discovering the rest when there was no other way out.
God is the Master Gardener. He is the One who is lovingly and carefully doing the pruning, weeding, and debugging. The process can be painful and messy, but the result of all the effort is glorious. The roses are beautiful, fragrant, and healthy. It is a joy to be among them despite the thorns that may remain. If we can only keep our eyes off the process, and focus them on the intended result, we'll find that the change of perspective in our thinking makes all the difference in the world.
Psalm 3:3-4, Modern English Version (MEV)
With all the terrible things that are going on in the world today, some of which have spilled over to impact our own lives, it is easy for us to be overwhelmed and forget what a great God we serve. We begin to wonder if God is paying attention, if God even cares, or maybe even if God is strong enough to deal with it all. This is particularly true when we see those, we would consider to be innocent being hurt the most by those who seem to have no regard for the lives of others.
Somewhere along the line we got this idea that by giving our lives to God, he would smooth out all the rough spots from that point on, that we would be living in a veritable rose garden the rest of our natural days. What we forgot is that roses have thorns, that they need a lot of tending, pruning, weeding, and debugging. This whole "rose garden" life thing is a fantasy someone dreamed up that is devoid of reality. Unfortunately, we fell for the fantasy, only discovering the rest when there was no other way out.
God is the Master Gardener. He is the One who is lovingly and carefully doing the pruning, weeding, and debugging. The process can be painful and messy, but the result of all the effort is glorious. The roses are beautiful, fragrant, and healthy. It is a joy to be among them despite the thorns that may remain. If we can only keep our eyes off the process, and focus them on the intended result, we'll find that the change of perspective in our thinking makes all the difference in the world.
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