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August 3-4 Ever the optimist!
3 Aug, 2017
August 3 - Ever the optimist!
Opening the curtains this morning the day was full of promise - gentle breeze and lovely summer sunshine....a day full of hope that people in the area would get all of those outdoor jobs done that have been stacking up. (I hope they achieved it because it's pouring down with rain right now). Thinking along these lines my eyes settled on the fruit trees in the rear garden. Year after year the pear tree never ceases to amaze me. Last year you may remember, the tree underwent a badly needed short back and sides pruning. I was told not to expect fruit this year as it would take a while for the tree to recover. Seems however, that the tree had other plans. The days of Spring this year were blessed with the sight of a tree white with blossom. Now, as I look at the tree, i's branches are heavy with delicious looking pears - far exceeding my hopes. By the time they are ready for harvesting next month they will be plump, luscious, and ready for sharing. Despite the trauma of the severe pruning and the tree surgeon's words of caution, the tree once again, fulfilled it's springtime promise.
Charles Swindoll in 'Insight', tells of a phone call he received one day from a young woman whos life lay shipwrecked on the Californian beachshe called from. - a call he says he will never forget.
"She had leukaemia a terminal disease. Her husband had left her. Her child had recently died at only two and a half months ols. Her friend had just been killed in an auto accident. Wave after wave of loss had crushed this woman's spirit, and she couldn't take another day of pain." She told Chuck Swindoll that she held a loaded revolver and wondered why she shouldn't use it to end her misery. She needed hope, but holding on to hope can take all of your strength - especially when doubt creeps in and despair is the next step.
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This is where we can relate to this young woman. We know well the depth of despair that defies logical thinking. We exhaust ourselves, but, even if we "could fathom despair's depths, you'd (we'd) still be lying in the same hospital bed. Or, standing beside the same grave. Or, sitting alone in the same empty house. Your (our) head(s) would hold some answers, but your (my) heart would still be aching.
I asked earlier if after a time of recovery, do we blossom and fruit again?
The answer is "Yes", providing we have something solid to hold on to....no, I rephrase that. Not "thing", but "Someone". Chuck Swindoll spoke to her about Christ and the hope that He alone could provide.
Shortly later the young woman rang back to say she had been reading a New Testament given to her by a friend and had decided to give her life completely to Christ and His direction. She went on to say, "I'm still afraid. I still don't know what tomorrow's going to bring, but I want you to know that I'm trusting Jesus through this . He has given me new hope, the one thing I really needed."
Do we, as the pear tree, let our roots and branches reach out for the Living Water that season after season encourages us to blossom and develop fruits that will nourish a society that is so in need of new hope?
We too, go through periods of 'severe pruning' and trauma in our lives. Thinking of myself, I wonder, do I deal with these periods as the pear tree has? After a time of recovery, do I blossom and fruit again - more abundantly than before? Do I face life and it's ordeals with hope of a new season?![]()
Above all, do I share this new season of fruits and hope with others?
Music today is "I am Casting all my Care on You" - click on the picture to listen.
c
"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you,![]()
who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials" - 1 Peter 1:3-6
Opening the curtains this morning the day was full of promise - gentle breeze and lovely summer sunshine....a day full of hope that people in the area would get all of those outdoor jobs done that have been stacking up. (I hope they achieved it because it's pouring down with rain right now). Thinking along these lines my eyes settled on the fruit trees in the rear garden. Year after year the pear tree never ceases to amaze me. Last year you may remember, the tree underwent a badly needed short back and sides pruning. I was told not to expect fruit this year as it would take a while for the tree to recover. Seems however, that the tree had other plans. The days of Spring this year were blessed with the sight of a tree white with blossom. Now, as I look at the tree, i's branches are heavy with delicious looking pears - far exceeding my hopes. By the time they are ready for harvesting next month they will be plump, luscious, and ready for sharing. Despite the trauma of the severe pruning and the tree surgeon's words of caution, the tree once again, fulfilled it's springtime promise.
Charles Swindoll in 'Insight', tells of a phone call he received one day from a young woman whos life lay shipwrecked on the Californian beachshe called from. - a call he says he will never forget.
"She had leukaemia a terminal disease. Her husband had left her. Her child had recently died at only two and a half months ols. Her friend had just been killed in an auto accident. Wave after wave of loss had crushed this woman's spirit, and she couldn't take another day of pain." She told Chuck Swindoll that she held a loaded revolver and wondered why she shouldn't use it to end her misery. She needed hope, but holding on to hope can take all of your strength - especially when doubt creeps in and despair is the next step.
This is where we can relate to this young woman. We know well the depth of despair that defies logical thinking. We exhaust ourselves, but, even if we "could fathom despair's depths, you'd (we'd) still be lying in the same hospital bed. Or, standing beside the same grave. Or, sitting alone in the same empty house. Your (our) head(s) would hold some answers, but your (my) heart would still be aching.
I asked earlier if after a time of recovery, do we blossom and fruit again?
The answer is "Yes", providing we have something solid to hold on to....no, I rephrase that. Not "thing", but "Someone". Chuck Swindoll spoke to her about Christ and the hope that He alone could provide.
Shortly later the young woman rang back to say she had been reading a New Testament given to her by a friend and had decided to give her life completely to Christ and His direction. She went on to say, "I'm still afraid. I still don't know what tomorrow's going to bring, but I want you to know that I'm trusting Jesus through this . He has given me new hope, the one thing I really needed."
Do we, as the pear tree, let our roots and branches reach out for the Living Water that season after season encourages us to blossom and develop fruits that will nourish a society that is so in need of new hope?
We too, go through periods of 'severe pruning' and trauma in our lives. Thinking of myself, I wonder, do I deal with these periods as the pear tree has? After a time of recovery, do I blossom and fruit again - more abundantly than before? Do I face life and it's ordeals with hope of a new season?
Above all, do I share this new season of fruits and hope with others?
Music today is "I am Casting all my Care on You" - click on the picture to listen.
c
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