As I journey through this trial, I fall to my knees often and seek comfort from God. I continuously asked Him to help me in this desperate situation and I rely on His assurance that an end will come.
As I hope (and have faith to believe), God does comfort me and he does strengthen me. I am able to endure and hopefully I will come out on the other side of this fire not even smelling of smoke just like the three young Hebrew boys that were thrown into the fiery furnace.
As I meditate on this, I think about the farmer and how he plants and harvests and the comparison of our walk with Christ ~ how we start out and how we end up.
Crops are planted as little seeds in the early months of spring and they begin to grow in mild temperatures. Then the summer arrives with the intense heat that seemingly lasts forever. All through the summer, the plants endure the heat as well as other unforeseen challenges they face such as predators, pests and so much more; yet they continue growing (upward). As the summer's long hot days persist, the crops finally begin to produce their fruit.
After the plants have fully matured, the heat begins to subside and soon, it's time for the harvest.
Upon inspection of the fruit that has been produced, there is no visible sign on them of what the plant endured over the growing season. The plants that will be discarded can look pretty rough but the FRUIT they bear is attractive to look AND delicious to eat.
In the end, the fruit becomes an offering to others to feast upon and be nurtured by.
As I ponder this simple truth, I realize that without the heat, there would be no crops. The intense heat is what makes the tender plants grow from small to large and become the strong plants that bear the fruit and would not be recognizable had we not watched this metamorphosis.
As believers in Christ, we are planted here to grow and become all that God wants us to be. He watches over us as we go through all the different ways life bears down on us. God knows just what will make us grow and become all that He wants us to be.
If we embrace the pressures and challenges of life and go to God each day for his strength, His comfort and His assurance--rather than reject each heartache, we can later be used to feed and nourish others.
The fruit we end up can be used to share with others.
At the end of our journey, God will have changed us into someone unrecognizable, someone who (had we not been there to witness the change) we would not have believed it. Just like the tender plant that started out a seed, making the long journey through the heat and ending up producing a crop that will feed and bless many.
Sadly, there are always a few plants that either don't produce anything or end up withered and good for nothing. I don't want to be either of those! I want to make it to the harvest and I want to produce something that others will be nurtured by and...I want my fruit to be attractive!
A little bit of wisdom here, there are many different kinds of plants, we prefer some and don't particularly care for others-- yet they ALL have their own purpose.
John 15:5
But blessed are those who trust in the Lord and have made the Lord their hope and confidence. They are like trees planted along a riverbank, with roots that reach deep into the water. Such trees are not bothered by the heat or worried by long months of drought. Their leaves stay green, and they never stop producing fruit.
Jeremiah 17:7-8
Jeremiah 17:7-8
He who began a good work in you will be faithful to complete it.
Philippians 1:7.
Philippians 1:7.
KL
