Jeremiah 29:11
I once read about a little girl who was walking through a garden and happened to see a beautiful flower. She quickly knelt down and plucked it because she thought that it was too pretty to be down in the dirt. She took it into the house and began to wash it with water, but it soon wilted and died. When her mother saw what she had done, she said, “Why did you pick my prettiest daffodil?” The little girl answered, “Because I didn’t like to see it in the dirt!” Yet without the dirt, there could be no flower.
Sometimes I feel like that little girl felt. When I consider all the ‘dirt’ in life, I can’t help but wonder, “How long, O Lord?” However, the pain and difficult circumstances in life are often the very things that He uses to strengthen me and teach me that His grace is sufficient. Like a wise gardener, sometimes the hand of God plants us in the soil of hardship, but it is only because He intends a future beauty. Nowhere do we see this more clearly than in the gospel. Jesus entered our dirty world, carried the full weight of our sin, and died in our place. He became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. For this reason, God has highly exalted Him and bestowed on Him the name that is above every name!
God never wastes our pain. Somehow, He uses it for His glory and for our good. We have hope in Christ, both now and in the future. Trust in the sovereign hand of God today!
Father, help me see past the ‘dirt’ in my life and look in faith to Christ, the One who loves me and gave Himself for me. Be glorified in my life today. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
For more, read Philippians 2:5-11
