As believers in Christ we are all faced with troubles, hardships and sufferings of many kinds, these I like to refer to as dirt. This is what the flower struggles through from a seed, to be what it is meant to be; a fragile yet powerful source of inspiration. The soil, despite how hard or dirty it gets this is what it takes for a beautiful flower to be cultivated.
We all belong to a special garden as children of God, His Garden. We open up and blossom as His light shines upon us and we are nourished by His water, which is the very Living Word of God. One of the purposes of a flower is to grow and in that same manner, we too are to become mature (Ephesians 4: 11-16), being more like Christ and becoming His representatives in the earth. Very often, God uses the same very trials and tribulations we face, to strengthen us, test our character and shift our gaze back to Him. However, the question is, what do we do when these tough circumstances are at our doorstep?
James 1:2-4 (NIV)
2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. 4 Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.
In this scripture, it is stated that we should first consider our sufferings as pure joy. Now, what does that mean? When we think about joy, we usually think about an emotion evoked by success or good fortune or a state of happiness, but pure joy goes deeper than that. It has to do with contentment, trust and confidence in God. When your house is broken into, when there is a sudden death in the family, when you don’t have enough money to pay the bills or when you have to face serious illnesses and surgeries, you can be at peace knowing that trials are the only way we can see God working out the details of our lives and if we allow them to, the trials and hardships we face have the potential to build our character, deepen our faith, and widen our compassion.
In verse 3 we see that there is a great value in the trials of life and that is why God allows them. Trials test our faith, which the channel that makes His possibilities available to us. They produce dependence upon God and build our trust in Him because we see the trustworthiness of His Word and character when we lean on it over and over again and again.
Trials also bring us into maturity and make us look more like Christ. Difficult times in our lives develop patience, humility, endurance and help us to achieve purification in our Christian walk. In the garden, the Gardener is growing our faith muscles against the resistance of trials and difficulties. He is strengthening us to persevere through the trials, that we might become mature and complete in him.
Right now you might be surrounded by dirt or in other words facing all kinds of difficult situations. You might feel like this is too hard and you as a flower of God’s garden, feel as though you are starting to wilt and die. Just remember that God is not going to give you more than you can bear and these tough times will last only as long as necessary for God to accomplish His purposes (1 Corinthians 10:13). He is still in control and He will cause all things to work out for your good (Romans 8:28).
Let the Gardener do His work in you so that you can become a beautiful flower that blooms with a sweet fragrance and delicate beauty.
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