Last week in our small group, my friend and I got to talking to a guy whom I will call the Orchid King. He has a passion for orchids and was explaining all the different species to me which I found very interesting. While I have orchids in my yard, I am just learning how to care for them. They bloom at various times and each one on it's own schedule. The humidity and rain here in Florida provide perfect conditions for them to thrive, except they still need attention. Left alone, they dwindle a little and produce on occasion whereas I see other friend's plants blossoming colorful, bountiful blooms. The Orchid King explained how he takes care of his orchids so they are the healthiest and most beautifully grown.
Here is what he said to us, "Orchids can become couch potatoes if you let them. They will just sit there stagnant and think to themselves 'I've got all I need' and they will soak in the sun and basically just be lazy and produce status quo. Because of this, sometimes I will water them a little less and fertilize them less so that they get uncomfortable. It makes them stress a little so they get a little desperate for additional nourishment. When they take in the extra water and nourishment, they produce more blooms. It makes them healthier and more beautiful. So, I like to stress them out, then watch them grow."
My friend turned and looked at me and we both just nodded, we both got it at the same moment. This was something we had been recently discussing. God...not orchids! She said, You know you gotta blog this right?!? So, here it is! (This is for you B! Thanks for your continued support of my writing.) We both said it, "The Vine and the branches!" referring to to John 15:1-2:
"I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser.
Every branch in me that does not bear fruit He takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit."
But there are so many other examples of this in the Scriptures:
"...for in a severe test of affliction, their abundance of joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part." 2 Corinthians 8:2 ESV
"Let them thank the LORD for His steadfast love, for His wondrous works to the children of man!
For He satisfies the longing soul, and the hungry soul He fills with good things." Psalm 107:8-9 ESV
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When you are in distress and all these things have happened to you, then in later days you will return to the LORD your God and obey him.
For the LORD your God is a merciful God; he will not abandon or destroy you or forget the covenant with your forefathers, which he confirmed to them by oath." Deuteronomy 4:30-31 NIV
And this is why:
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Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort,
who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God." 2 Corinthians 1:3-4 ESV
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All this is for your benefit, so that the grace that is reaching more and more people may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God.
Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.
For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.
So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal." 2 Corinthians 4:15-18 NIV
Just as the old saying goes, When life hands us lemons, we make lemonade. I'd like to add: When God hands us trials, we make testimonies! Our lives are not our own in the sense of it's meaning. We are here for divine purpose. To love and serve God, bringing Him glory through our hearts lived in Him and to love and serve others from the hearts overflowing in grace.
Trials are neither fun or forever. Every season comes to an end, eventually. As we walk through these seemingly long, droughtful, dreadful desserts, God takes what is seen, working the unseen. Behind every trial there is a testimony being built and refined. I know, why can't we just read about trials and how they make us stronger, and read about how great and grand our God is and believe it?! I mean, really, isn't that enough, to know that God is Healer, Helper, Redeemer, Mighty to Save?!? Apparently not. God wants us to know-know Him.
Humans obviously need experience plus knowledge in order to understand something fully. We need the intangible to be tangible. So how can an invisible God be seen? How can we know Him beyond knowledge? It's that moment our heart sees the God of our head. When the description of God becomes our desperation. When illustration becomes the illumination. It is here we grow in grace and demonstrate the glory of an amazing God.
The entire Bible is full of lessons learned, testimonies of people and places, trials and wanderings, rejections and redemptions. It wasn't enough for people to hear about Jesus, the coming Messiah. They had to see proof and experience Him personally. Eventhough we cannot see Christ Himself today, we can still experience Him and feel His presence. He is tangible today! Whether we are on life's mountain-top experiencing joy and awe or we are crumpled on the valley floor, it is here in life we come to know this tangible God.
Our afflictions make us desperate and hungry to seek nourishment. When our stressed, dry bones receive this much needed nourishment, we grow beautiful blooms, on display for all to see. Our lives testify to His greatness and we are made stronger in the midst of it.
Reading a book about Marriage or Parenting, or something simple like driving or sewing, swimming or fishing, how to blog (lol), explains to me how to start it off, and gives me an idea of how it should be done...but until you experience it for yourself, you cannot fully comprehend what marriage, parenting...driving a car, etc really is.
When I am struggling in an area, I will find someone who has been there and done that, to mentor me. Out of the comfort they once received, they can now comfort me. They know exactly what I am going through and know the exact nourishment I need. The bestest of friends are the ones who see you are
hungry and don't just tell you "You should go eat something," they actually bring you something to eat; the ones who see sorrow in your soul and bring you testimony of hope, not just a tissue. Until I went through my first miscarriage or my first birth, or first panic attack, I could not have been able to sympathize or relate to someone else who has on a deep level, to know what they are thinking or feeling. I can now. I can see it in their eyes. I can hear their heart's cry and their souls need for nourishment. Out of my affliction, I can share my affirmation of a steadfast and faithful God. This is why I blog. To share out of my heart what I see in Him, because of Him, what He has done for me and in me. So that...He may receive all the glory. It won't be the best writing you have ever read, but I pray it is always about the best One and Only God you could ever know!!
The Great I Am, the Alpha and Omega has not left us here to be lazy couch potatoes, blooming on occasion for us to take a few nice selfies. Our God is a big God. He sometimes holds back all we want so we can have all we need! Season to season, He prunes us and restores us!
My Prayer: Bless our hearts Lord so we can bless Yours. May all glory be on You, the Gardner of our soul. Open our eyes Lord to those hurting so that we can bring them the Comfort we too have received when our spirits too were crushed. Grow us in grace and gratitude that we may boast in You. Thank You for the trials that keep us from being lazy or selfish. Strengthen us in Your Name when we are made weak, so that we can boast in Your glorious strength. It is written, "My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me." 2 Corinthians 12:9. May it be so. Amen.
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