Flourishing Amid Failure
Theme of the Week: Don't Waste Your Suffering
Monday, August 4, 2008
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Key Bible Verse: "Saul is my chosen instrument to take my message to the Gentiles and kings. … And I will show him how much he must suffer for me" (Acts 9:15-16). Bonus Reading: Jeremiah 17:5-8
Mr. A. Bailey was an apple farmer, one of the best. During a season of prolonged drought, all the orchards in the valley dried up for lack of moisture. The apple crop seemed destined to fail. Mr. Bailey was called in and asked why his orchard was so green while everyone else's was so dry.
He replied, "My trees can go another two weeks without a drop of water."
"Well, how'd you do that?" the other farmers prodded.
"When my trees were young, I frequently withheld water from them. So they had to send their roots deeper into the soil to find water. Now, while other trees are dying, mine are drinking moisture at greater depth."
When others curse seasons of suffering, be sure that you invest your energy by sending your roots deeper to draw water from a greater depth.
The Lord told a dubious Ananias [see today's Key Bible Verses] that he had selected Saul, but that Saul wasn't yet complete. Suffering readies us for his purposes and his assignment. Don't fear the time of lack. Make do with what you have. Don't fear times when you feel unfairly treated. Stand secure. Don't fear seasons of dryness. Dig deep.
—Wayne Cordeiro in Rising Above
My Response: I'll thank God for those trials that are pushing me to send my roots deeper.
Adapted from Rising Above (Regal, 2004) by permission.
Copyright © 2008 by the author or Christianity Today International/Men of Integrity magazine.
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Help me not to resist the trials You send my way, Lord, but submit to Your refining touch.
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