Pensamientos para hoy (afterthought for today)

Broken Plants

Last week I planted a few tomato plants and two pepper plants--a Thai hot pepper and a red bell pepper plant. I planted them in a new location because the spot where I've had my garden the last few years does not get enough sun. But the new garden needed a lot of work and preparation. I dug down a couple of feet and pulled out a lot of rocks then mixed in two bags of top soil and a bag of humus. I planted the tomatoes and pepper plants and then watered them--mission accomplished.

The next morning I went out to look at the plants and horrors upon horrors. The top of the bell pepper plant was broken off and lying in the dirt. Small paw prints in the soft dirt bore witness to the perpetrator of the dastardly crime. A raccoon or woodchuck had walked over the plant and snapped off the top of the plant.

I left the roots and short stalk in the ground and hoped that the plant would survive. It's been a week and wonder of wonders several new leaves have sprouted and it looks like I'll be eating red bell peppers sometime in August.

Sometimes our life is like that pepper plant. We are minding our own business and then something unexpected happens that severally breaks into our life cutting us almost to the core. From appearances it looks like everything is over. Life will never be the same, and recovery is seriously in doubt.

Then, over time, with God's help we begin to heal. The hurt never goes away, but God helps us to deal with our loss. We begin to see light at the end of the tunnel. The fog of despair slowly lifts and God reveals the beauty of life once again.

If you've experienced such a severe blow to your life, don't give up. In time God will bring healing. In time God will chase away the dark clouds of despair and Jesus will fill your life with his light of hope. The Bible says: "Say to those with anxious heart, "Take courage, fear not . . . God will come . . . then the lame will leap like a deer and . . . the scorched land will become a pool and the thirsty ground springs of water (Isaiah 35:4-7)."¹

Trusting God to revive a thirsty heart,

Pastor Steve

June 27, 2010

¹ Isaiah 35:4-7, NASB (New American Standard Bible). Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations taken from the NASB.

Jesus is the greatest teacher who ever lived. One of Jesus' techniques was to relate spiritual ideas to common everyday life. Pensamientos (afterthought) is an attempt to follow Jesus' method of teaching. Its title is in Spanish because we recognize the importance of multi-culturalism. We hope to translate some of these messages into Spanish soon.

Find more afterthoughts at Pensamientos (afterthoughts).

You can read recent sermons by Pastor Lorenz at Featured Sermon.