If you saw these tiny brown bits on your counter, you might back away and search for a mousetrap or the phone number of the pest control experts. If you dared to look more closely, you’d see they weren’t deposits from a visiting rodent or casings of an unwanted insect. Let me rephrase that. Few insects are considered invited guests.
Misshapen peppercorns? No. Badly burnt post-apocalypse popcorn kernels? The world’s smallest and most dehydrated raisins? Bloated black sesame seeds?
“Whatever they are,” you might comment, “they aren’t pretty.”
You should have seen them before I removed them from their nondescript, papery, dusty shells.
This is what became of those brown/black flecks a few months later. I know. The change in them startled me, too.
I left the photo large for emphasis. Isn’t it remarkable? Something that starts out so ugly can become such a work of art, such a thing of beauty, such a soul-refreshing sight.
And that, my friends, is what God has been reminding me often lately. How discouraged we get when life is in its ugly phase. But God says, “Hold on. Wait until you see what I can do with this!”
Does it make the ugly phase any less difficult? Not necessarily. But it infuses it with hope.
A prolific gardener may write to me and say, “Those dark seeds are beautiful the way they are.” There’s an element of truth in that statement. But if seeds stayed that way, would the gardener still be convinced of their beauty? They’re designed to sprout and grow and produce stunning blossoms. When a gardener claims a seed is beautiful, he or she is already envisioning the blossom.
Already envisioning the blossom.
Lord, help me do the same.
Is a life challenge for you in the blossom stage yet? Care to share your story?