My all-time favorite
flower is the rose. This genus Rosa belongs to a plant family that includes
more than one-hundred plant species. Some are especially fragrant. Others
produce jams, jellies, teas and a variety of oils. Yet others go into making
skin and beauty makeup products.
Like the rose, Life presents
its share of thorny experiences. Lost jobs, nasty divorces, abusing spouses,
and unplanned tragedies bring wind clouds and stormy weather. Yet, few plants
are more popular, more useful or lovelier, than the rose.
Most of us recognize this wildly
popular specimen for its exquisite blooms and fragrant aroma. We value it among
our loveliest of specimen plants, in spite of its being well-fortified with
sharply-toothed leaves and thorny stems. Like life, this perennial favorite
delivers far more than its share of thorns and prickly experiences.
It was in a little known jungle
village called Chitana that Missionary Larry Lehman encountered a prickly individual
that taught him this lesson (Kreider/The Way of the Cross and Resurrection /Herald
Press, 1978/134-35). Most of the villagers in this isolated village feared this
prickly personality because of his extra-ordinary strength, but that all
changed when he met Jesus and experienced a life-transformation.
Upon encountering Jesus, strange things began
to happen in the life of this much-feared man. First, his cow died quite
mysteriously. His pig died shortly, followed by his dog. Soon, his neighbors
began avoiding him. Threats became commonplace, first against his life, then
against his family. Tough times discourage some people, but adversity seemed to
draw this strong man of Chitana closer to God.
The Spirit of Christ cleansed his heart of hatred
and anger. He found that he had a new love for the people mis-treating him. As
a result of his persevering faith, thirty-five of his countrymen discovered new
life in Christ. The final indignity came, however when fifteen men drew up a
paper and declared under oath that this man had removed the images from their
local church and burned them.
The authorities soon
recognized this as a falsehood and an attempt to destroy this new Christian and
they acquitted him. When the day came for the judge to prosecute the accusers;
their accusations proved false, and they became subject to perjury. Although this
strong man had previously fought everyone who threatened him in anyway, he now
pleaded for the judge to pardon the very enemies who tried to destroy him.
The unfolding of this
strange drama came when the Judge granted the strongman’s request. As a result
of this one man’s powerful witness, the number of believers in that commun-ity
increased to one-hundred thirty-five by the end of that year.
Pleading God’s pardon, and
experiencing God’s forgiveness, adds a fragrance to life that more than com-pensates
for all of its thorns. When we forgive those who would destroy us, we enhance the
blooms on life’s plant; we multiply the number of blooms and we discover a
fragrance that makes their beauty more satisfying.
This is walkingwithwarner.blogspot.com,
reminding you that forgiveness, as Mark Twain discovered, is the fragrance the
violet sheds on the heel that crushed it.
_____
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