Perseverance is Lovely
Mustard Seed Chronicles: Story Time with LU Grandma
As always, God again uses His creation to teach something to me this spring.
I have tulips planted along the sidewalk in front of my house. I used to have them in lots of different flowerbeds on the property, but every spring, the deer come and eat them before the buds have a chance to bloom. So, I brought them up close to our house to “protect” them.
Plus, I have begun to spray them with a nasty smelling potion to repel the deer and squirrels that might find the early buds tasty. The repellent was so smelly that it even kept me from going outside until after it dried!
I hadn’t been outside for a couple of days because of the rainy weather, and sure enough when I did, what did I see? Every one of the tulip buds and their leaves had been chewed on! The rain had washed away the repellent. For all my effort to protect them, I wanted to cry, but what could I do? It was too late to save the tulips this year, or at least I thought so.
But God!
A week later, I was walking again along the footpath, and I saw two stems with buds on them peeking out from the chewed clumps. I immediately sprayed them again with repellent and have for the last couple of days. Well today, when I went outside, two beautiful flowers met my gaze! They were not huge or very tall, but they were blooming!
What does that teach us?
Sometimes life down here is hard. We run into trials of our own making or are made for us by others, and we are hurt. What do we do with that? We have a choice! We can let the trial destroy us, we can give up and stop trying, or we can let it stall us a year or longer before we try to again to do what God has called us to do, or we can persevere to make the best of a hard situation and come out victorious.
In this life, we have not been guaranteed by anyone that we will never be hurt, either emotionally or physically. God says in Romans 8:35, 37-39:
“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? … No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (emphasis is mine).
And, in James 1:2-4, God says:
“Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything” (emphasis is mine).
Are you ready to persevere through all your trials, so you can bring joy to others and glory to God just like the two little tulips in my garden have to us?
Prayer:
Abba, Father, thank You for Your love, strength, encouragement, and joy that You bring out of our trials! You do not always take us out of them right away, or maybe at any point in our lives, but that is no excuse to stop doing what You have called us to do or to stop being what You have called us to be… we are to be Fruit of the Spirit producers! Lord, keep us out of the pit of self-pity, bitterness, resentment, and regret where fruit cannot grow.
We ask this in the precious name of Jesus, Amen!
Meet the Author
Timi Plyter
“LU Grandma”
Lead Parent Advocate
