A Tenacious Grip

My grandmother was a gardener of impossible soils.  Wherever we lived, the land was stubbornly resistant to planting either for produce or beauty.  But whatever the defiant ground, she found a way around it.  In the bitterly cold winters of Chicago, she built an indoor planter by the windows in our rec room.  On a rocky sloping yard of clay in New Jersey, well, even in her 70s, she dug out those big stones, terraced the hill, and planted perennials.

Faithfulness sometimes requires the most creative efforts.  She faced her most challenging struggles with an attitude, "Now, what can I do with that?"  

She did not just work around the big rocks or complain about them, she did something with them.  

 

For this light momentary affliction 

is preparing for us 

an eternal wight of glory

beyond all comparison,

as we look not to the things

that are seen

but to the things that are unseen.

                     2 Corinthians 4. 17-18

It was all a part of her training program.  Through each struggle and challenge, she learned something new that helped her face the next difficulty.  In all she did, inside and out, she didn't see a barren landscape, but an opportunity.  She had a deeply rooted soul, nurtured in her faith in God and in His Word.  "If it were easy, would we still seek God?"  She had seen too much to question God in the hard stuff.  First and foremost, far beyond any circumstances, she trusted in the goodness of God.  And loved Him dearly.

And as a result, even though she was not planted next to rivers of water, she thrived even in sheer rock, not in her own strength, but in His, no matter where, how, and among whom, for His glory.  Not hardened by circumstances, but responsive to them.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Even in what is hard and we cannot understand, we can rely on Him.  He is not about to abandon us now.  We are just getting to the exciting part of our story.  

As a grandmother, she modeled a lot for me in watching her thrive even on sheer rock.  Keep a firm hold, cling to, and adhere closely to the LORD.  God has a tenacious grip on each one of us.  Bring His beauty to it.  And in the process, grant hope to others.

Now let's see what He does with this.  Even this.

 

Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel,

    who alone does wondrous things.

                             Psalm 72. 18