Embracing Hard Things
We’ve had some household drama in the last month. Nothing too serious, but the kind that takes time. It can thin my resolve and sometimes has me searching for distractions.
Wandering to the garage, I see my lawn shoes and weed eater in the corner, just where I left them last fall. Hard work stares back at me, so I pivot and step out on the front porch. There the temperatures are warming, the sun is shining, and our welcome wreath is home to a nest of baby purple finches, all announcing better days.
Breathing in the pollen-filled air, I sneeze as I survey my lawn. It’s clear that it needs some attention. The winter freeze has done a number on shrubs and bushes, and some need to be replaced. The grass is high, as are the daffodils, and those darn dandelions have popped up again with reinforcements.
I have 8 or 10 pots of plants that I had hoped would weather over the winter in sheltered places, but each appears dead and gone. I love the memory of color and symmetry outside the house from last year. Were this a different moment, I would seize the day, but my motivation is lacking, and I can’t seem to summon the energy.
God sure does turn on the “green and grow” all at once. I wish He’d hold off until I’m good and ready to respond. Reminds me of the story of an old country preacher:
One Sunday morning after services, an appreciative farmer’s wife invited him to Sunday dinner. He happily agreed, knowing this woman to be a fabulous cook. Later in the day the farmer, sent by his wife, came round in his horse drawn buggy to pick the preacher up for dinner. Being a man of the earth, and not much for talking, the farmer’s conversation was sparce and mostly directed to the horse. The preacher was able to draw him out with comments about the farms they were passing, and the years they had worked the soil, but it was largely a quiet ride back to his farm.
When they pulled onto the drive of the farmer’s property, the preacher noticed the beautifully cultivated fields with abundant well-cared-for crops, fruit trees and livestock all in their spaces. The fences, house and barn were clean, neat and painted. And a row of specifically planted pine trees led from the road to the house, where they shaded the lawn and flowers gardens. It was a sight to behold. The farmer brimmed with pride.
“My, oh, my,” said the old preacher, “God sure has blessed you with a beautiful farm.” About which the farmer thought a moment then stated, “Well, yes, the land is good, but when God was running things all by Himself, it was a mess.” At which they both had a chuckle.
How we grow depends on how we embrace the harder things of life
I feel the truth in that parable. God requires sweat equity in the growing of His family. He always causes the growth, but how one grows and how much one grows is greatly dependent on how we embrace the less convenient, harder things of life. To work with the Lord takes a decision of the will.
Do I let challenges trouble me, or do I become trouble to them? It’s questionable today.
I wish it weren’t true, but that must be part of what Jesus meant when he said, “In this life you will have trouble, but take heart…I will be with you.”
I pull out the flowerpots, tearing away the old growth and stirring up the soil. I kick over a few dead bushes, yanking them up by the roots to prep for a future planting, but today is not that day. Nope, that will be a weekend task, so I return to the front porch, in the sun and under the carefree gaze of fuzzy-headed chicks.
I’ve got work to do both outside and inside the house in the days ahead, and both will involve some sweat. If it was easy, I’d have done it already. I may have a case of the springtime malaise presently, but I’m going to choose to embrace hard things. That “acting on life” rather than having “life act on you” really does work.
You may not like the patch of life you’ve been assigned today but recognize that the soil of you is good and the sweat equity you have in the Lord is what frees you and moves you forward. That’s the way He designed it and it’s the way He designed you. If you’re praying for something different, troubling days are closer than you think. Even so, He’s with you!
Are you avoiding anything hard in this season?
