Do You Hear What I Hear?

Every Spring I feel the gentle call from my flower beds. They want my company. The underworked winter soil, hardened by the harshness of winter, gently gives way to the shovel and hoe as I work the soil. My trip to the neighborhood garden nursery is strategically planned and I enjoy browsing different varieties of plants. My traditional roots usually keep me grounded and I customarily pick reliable, heat resistant perennials to occupy my garden beds. As you can imagine, within weeks the lovely vibrant colors of pinks and purples collide against the evergreen shrubs and make for a gorgeous rainbow of color.

However, last spring I encountered a beast that nearly put an end to my gardening hobby. I had been working an area of my flowerbeds that has been resistant to grow anything. I noticed a buzzing sound but had not been able to identify the source. After careful thoughts I decided the removal of one large shrub was in order if there was to be enough sunlight hit this particular space. Little did I know what lay ahead.

As we tugged and pulled the shrub, a swarm of angry yellow jackets grew ever more hostile. Seems we had disrupted their home. My husband and I quickly jolted back for fear of being stung. These creatures were in shock, they didn’t know what to do.  They were mad, retaliating and moving fast. They didn’t care that I was trying to beautify that area of my garden, it only mattered that they not be disrupted, inconvenienced or troubled.

What a concept in our spiritual lives! We move along comfortably in our own little world as long as God doesn’t disrupt us. As long as nothing inconveniences us, messes with our schedule or our family we think we’re doing pretty good. But let a child get sick, a husband lose his job, or bills go unpaid and we get angry, just like the yellow jacket. We feel disrupted, just like the yellow jacket. We go into shock, just like the yellow jacket. We retaliate, get angry and move fast. All the while, God is just trying to beautify that part of our lives.

PRAYER: Father, help me understand that the refining moments You bring into my life are for my spiritual beautification.  They aren’t meant to damage me, only to bring more attention to the work You are busy doing in my life.

“But he knoweth the way that I take: when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold,” Job 23:10 KJV.

Today’s devotion is by Gina Stinson, wife to Bruce, mom to Savannah and Tucker, co-founder of The Mission in Gunter, TX, and publicist assistant for Kathy Carlton Willis Communications.