Thankful For Thorns

I received an email from my mother in law this morning called simply, "Thorns."  It was a forwarded email, there was no author, no signature and it is not one I have seen before.  It has a lot of meaning, but have the Kleenex close by.  I'm posting it for whoever.... Read the words carefully...

THORNS


Sandra felt as low as the heels of her shoes when she pulled open the florist shop door, against a November gust of wind. Her life had been as sweet as a spring breeze and then, in the fourth month of her second pregnancy, a "minor" automobile accident stole her joy. This was Thanksgiving week and the time she should have delivered their infant son. She grieved over their loss.



Troubles had multiplied.



Her husband's company "threatened" to transfer his job to a new location. Her sister had called to say that she could not come for her long awaited holiday visit. What's worse, Sandra's friend suggested that Sandra's grief was a God-given path to maturity that would allow her to empathize with others who suffer. "She has no idea what I'm feeling," thought Sandra with a shudder "Thanksgiving? Thankful for what?" she wondered. "For a careless driver whose truck was hardly scratched when he rear-ended me? For an airbag that saved my life, but took my child's?"



"Good afternoon, can I help you?"



Sandra was startled by the approach of the shop clerk. "I . . . I need an arrangement," stammered Sandra.



"For Thanksgiving? I'm convinced that flowers tell stories, " she continued. "Are you looking for something that conveys 'gratitude' this Thanksgiving?"



"Not exactly!" Sandra blurted out. "In the last five months, everything that could go wrong has gone wrong."



Sandra regretted her outburst, and was surprised when the clerk said, "I have the perfect arrangement for you."



Then the bell on the door rang, and the clerk greeted the new customer...



"Hi, Barbara, let me get your order." She excused herself and walked back to a small workroom, then quickly reappeared, carrying an arrangement of greenery, bows, and what appeared to be long-stemmed thorny roses. Except the ends of the rose stems were neatly s nipped: there were no flowers.



"Do you want these in a box?" asked the clerk.. Sandra watched - was this a joke? Who would want rose stems with no flowers! She waited for laughter, but neither woman laughed.



"Yes, please," Barbara replied with an appreciative smile. "You'd think after three years of getting the special, I wouldn't be so moved by its significance, but I can feel it right here, all over again," she said, as she gently tapped her chest.



Sandra stammered, "Ah, that lady just left with . . . uh . . . she left with no flowers!"



"That's right," said the clerk. "I cut off the flowers. That's the 'Special'. I call it the Thanksgiving Thorns Bouquet. Barbara came into the shop three years ago, feeling much as you do today," explained the clerk. "She thought she had very little to be thankful for. She had just lost her father to cancer; the family business was failing; her son had gotten into drugs; and she was facing major surgery. That same year I had lost my husband," continued the clerk. "For the first time in my life, I had to spend the holidays alone. I had no children, no husband, no family nearby, and too much debt to allow any travel."



"So what did you do?" asked Sandra.



"I learned to be thankful for thorns," answered the clerk quietly. "I've always thanked God for the good things in my life and I never questioned Him why those good things happened to me, but when the bad stuff hit, I cried out, 'Why? Why me?!' It took time for me to learn that the dark times are important to our faith! I have always enjoyed the 'flowers' of my life, but it took the thorns to show me the beauty of God's comfort! You know, the Bible says that God comforts us when we're afflicted, and from His consolation we learn to comfort others."



Sandra sucked in her breath, as she thought about what her friend had tried to tell her. "I guess the truth is I don't want comfort. I've lost a baby and I'm angry with God."



Just then someone else walked in the shop.



"Hey, Phil!" the clerk greeted the balding, rotund man.



"My wife sent me in to get our usual Thanksgiving arrangement . . twelve thorny, long-stemmed stems!" laughed Phil as the clerk handed him a tissue wrapped arrangement from the refrigerator.



"Those are for your wife?" asked Sandra incredulously. "Do you mind telling me why she wants a bouquet that looks like that?"



"Four years ago, my wife and I nearly divorced," Phil replied. "After forty years, we were in a real mess, but with the Lord's grace and guidance, we trudged through problem after problem, the Lord rescued our marriage. Jenny here (the clerk) told me she kept a vase of rose stems to remind her of what she had learned from "thorny" times. That was good enough for me. I took home some of those stems.. My wife and I decided to label each one for a specific "problem" and give thanks for what that problem taught us."



As Phil paid the clerk, he said to Sandra, "I highly recommend the Special!"



"I don't know if I can be thankful for the thorns in my life" Sandra said to the clerk. "It's all too . . fresh."



"Well," the clerk replied carefully, "my experience has shown me that the thorns make the roses more precious. We treasure God's providential care more during trouble than at any other time. Remember that it was a crown of thorns that Jesus wore so we might know His love....Don't resent the thorns."



Tears rolled down Sandra's cheeks. For the first time since the accident, she loosened her grip on her resentment. "I'll take those twelve long-stemmed thorns, please," she managed to choke out.



"I hoped you would," said the clerk gently. "I'll have them ready in a minute."



"Thank you. What do I owe you?"



"Nothing. Nothing but a promise to allow God to heal your heart...The first year's arrangement is always on me."



The clerk smiled and handed a card to Sandra. "I'll attach this card to your arrangement, but maybe you would like to read it first."



It read: "My God, I have never thanked You for my thorns. I have thanked You a thousand times for my roses, but never once for my thorns. Teach me the glory of the cross I bear; teach me the value of my thorns. Show me that I have climbed closer to You along the path of pain. Show me that, through my tears, the colors of Your rainbow look much more brilliant."



Praise Him for the roses; thank Him for the thorns.



God Bless all of you. Be thankful for all that the Lord does for you.



"Live simply, love generously, care deeply, speak kindly, and leave the rest to God."



We often try to fix problems with WD-40 and Duct tape.



God did it with nails.

Things I know For Sure

There are some things I know for certain and they are the following:

I know that the Bible is God's Word and it doesn't contradict itself and all of it is important, not just what we choose to believe and follow.

I know that Jesus was the Word made man, and that it is a living word.

I know that Jesus died for my sins and rose again and that He sits at the right hand of God.

I know that God answers our prayers in His time, not ours, and by His will not ours. 

I know that God never leaves our side.  So if you are a child of God and doing things you shouldn't do, God is there with you watching, and you should feel guilty and convicted of your sins. 

I also know that God forgives us, even when we are a Child of God and do things we shouldn't, but you need to get on your knees and ask for that forgiveness. 

I know that God puts people in our path at the right time and when we need them the most. 

I know that without a doubt, God brought my husband, Norman and I together, otherwise we would never have met. 

I know that God has a plan for us.

I know that God will take care of us, no matter what.

I know that God loves me more than I will ever be able to understand. 

I know that that my place in heaven is secure and that one day I will see everyone that I love, and that has died, again. 

I know that He sees what is in my heart, and He knows what I need and want. 

I know that if He comes back for me tomorrow, that I am ready.  Are you?

John 3:16 (King James Version)


16For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

Psalms 51:1-19 One of my readings from this week

I don't remember if it was Saturday that I read this or Monday morning.  But for some reason this one struck deep in my heart.  The sermon on Sunday by Bro. Robert seemed to go along with it.  Bro. Robert talked about the joy we have the day we accept Jesus as our Lord and Saviour and how some of us have lost that.  We should all have a burning in our hearts, if we are children of God.   This is the Amplified Bible Translation.  May it Bless You and May you seek God's wisdom and guidance in your life.  Love, L
1HAVE MERCY upon me, O God, according to Your steadfast love; according to the multitude of Your tender mercy and loving-kindness blot out my transgressions.


2Wash me thoroughly [and repeatedly] from my iniquity and guilt and cleanse me and make me wholly pure from my sin!

3For I am conscious of my transgressions and I acknowledge them; my sin is ever before me.

4Against You, You only, have I sinned and done that which is evil in Your sight, so that You are justified in Your sentence and faultless in Your judgment.(A)

5Behold, I was brought forth in [a state of] iniquity; my mother was sinful who conceived me [and I too am sinful].(B)

6Behold, You desire truth in the inner being; make me therefore to know wisdom in my inmost heart.

7Purify me with hyssop, and I shall be clean [ceremonially]; wash me, and I shall [in reality] be whiter than snow.

8Make me to hear joy and gladness and be satisfied; let the bones which You have broken rejoice.

9Hide Your face from my sins and blot out all my guilt and iniquities.

10Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right, persevering, and steadfast spirit within me.

11Cast me not away from Your presence and take not Your Holy Spirit from me.

12Restore to me the joy of Your salvation and uphold me with a willing spirit.

13Then will I teach transgressors Your ways, and sinners shall be converted and return to You.

14Deliver me from bloodguiltiness and death, O God, the God of my salvation, and my tongue shall sing aloud of Your righteousness (Your rightness and Your justice).

15O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth shall show forth Your praise.

16For You delight not in sacrifice, or else would I give it; You find no pleasure in burnt offering.(C)

17My sacrifice [the sacrifice acceptable] to God is a broken spirit; a broken and a contrite heart [broken down with sorrow for sin and humbly and thoroughly penitent], such, O God, You will not despise.

18Do good in Your good pleasure to Zion; rebuild the walls of Jerusalem.

19Then will You delight in the sacrifices of righteousness, justice, and right, with burnt offering and whole burnt offering; then bullocks will be offered upon Your altar.


Cross Reference
A.Psalm 51:4 : Rom 3:4


B.Psalm 51:5 : John 3:6; Rom 5:12; Eph 2:3

C.Psalm 51:16 : I Sam 15:22