Gardening is in the blood of my family. The appreciation of beauty was instilled early, together with the realisation that the gardener never has full control. Jobs take longer, pests invade, or the good old British weather trumps your hand.
In my mind’s eye, there is a rose bed out front. Problem is… the roses are out the back, in pots!
Clearing the overgrown shrubs and brambles takes longer than I hoped. Our clay soil also has a mind of its own- too boggy in winter, rock solid in summer. Yet there is hope.
Last week the rain came lashing down. One of my “David Austin” roses, Boscobel, had just opened up before the apocalypse began.
Last year the rose looked gorgeous.
It has struggled this time round. Pot life doesn’t suit it well. Fewer flowers have bloomed.
This time the rain tried to dissolve the rose!
The petals became translucent, and the colour changed. Very strange to see.
Gardeners are patient; and they don’t give up easily. I’m taking this semi-dissolved rose as a symbol of hope. The plant has survived. It has not been beaten.
Life lesson? You are never beaten until you don’t get up anymore.
Life rarely turns out as we expect or “plan”… and life brings disappointments as well as triumphs. Quite a lot of the time living is just about keeping on going, doing the ordinary, believing and trusting that God won’t let us go.
Prayer point: Has there been a deluge on your rose recently? Something that has spoilt your dreams, rattled your cage, threatened your future security?
Make that the focus of your prayer. Trust the Lord to bring fresh growth, renew the damaged roses: and maybe even see something beautiful or insightful in the situation. My translucent rose has a magnificence of its own, even with its imperfection. Study the consequence of the storm, look for beauty in the moment. Rain affected the bloom- but the plant survives. Unbeaten.
Lord, whatever is going on right now, and however it looks in the middle of the deluge, may Your Spirit renew and keep me UNBEATEN. The best IS yet to come. Amen.
Look, See, Pray 