Having a Bad Day? 

   Joy follows grief. There is a little tree in the center of our little front garden. Our tree is having a bad day, every day! 

   Three nights we had frost. All the king's horses and all the king's men - and two covering sheets - couldn't protect little leaves from killer frost. 

   We grabbed our new cutters and began to snip away, as we have done in the past. We pruned every little branch, until the tree looked shamefully naked. If it could feel, it would have hated me royally.

   Praise the Lord. Our little tree is alive. It's pruned branches will give birth to new branches and attractive green leaves. 

   With human nature, life can be harmful as well. Instead of frost, it may be sin. In Mark chapter 9 Jesus gave his listeners drastic measures to deal with sin. We assume he said this for effect. Then again, would you prune your own body if that was your only hope of avoiding eternal damnation? 

   Addressing idol worshipers, Isaiah wrote, The Lord gives you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction. v. 30:20.  

   Paul, who served the Lord to the full, was flogged, lashed, hit with rods and stoned by enemies of the gospel. He endured all kinds of danger, hunger, thirst and sleepless nights. 

   Peter wrote of our grief in all kinds of trials - so that faith proves genuine.          - 1 Peter 1:6. 

   Jesus told his disciples before his crucifixion, your grief will turn to joy,           - John 16:20, as a woman's pain in childbirth turns to joy. 

   Decades later, our risen Lord complimented the church at Ephesus: You have persevered and endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary.          - Revelation 2:3.

   We aren't born with a silver spoon and someday march proudly into heaven without a scar. Mrs. Donut and I each have a testimony of crushed spirit, later turned to joy.

Monday: God and 9/11

        Jimmy