the TRUTH, the whole TRUTH & nothing but the TRUTH

 Thorns hurt.  That is the truth.

Prickles penetrate the skin with a clear message - handle with care, don't get too close, I'm not afraid to hurt you.  Thorns choke out good seedlings (Matt 13:7), they torment us to cry for God's grace (2 Cor. 12:7-8). Thorns are part of the curse when we fell into sin (Gen 3:17).

I've had to contend with thorns. 

Several years ago I planted a rose bush in my back yard with hopes of beauty. All I got was thorns.  Proper fertilization & pruning resulted in… more thorns. Eventually I gave up the idea of pretty rose blooms & became complacent with the thorny bush hanging out in my yard.

Fast forward to Spring 2011. It was time to make different plans for that space. I was tired of mowing around a prickly thorn bush and I wanted to grow something meaningful. Shovel in hand I dug it out. I prepared the soil for a vegetable garden - something fruitful for a change.  Relief.

Until those thorns came back.

Spring 2012 I dug deeper & cleared all the roots I could find. Spring 2013 I spent days preparing the garden bed & planted several strawberry plants when my nemesis, thorn bush, poked its head up and killed a few of the strawberry plants. I felt utterly defeated.

So here is the whole truth:

Perhaps this wouldn't be so bad if I were just speaking of my garden. Really, this story mirrors some thorns in my soul I've been battling since that bush was planted.   Thorns of bitterness, hurt, wishing to be loved & desired, relationships that took a bad turn, longing to escape, negativity, depression, etc.  There is honest embarrassment when I own up to the number of years I’ve battled my own self & how much the thorns had taken over.   I had taken great effort to remove these in my life - without success. Things that had been prayed & fasted over - and yet remained. These thorns were destroying MY best laid plans for serving my loving Father. These thorns were affecting other people too.

Thorns hurt. They hurt me & they hurt others. 

Early summer 2013 I noticed something.  Something I hadn’t seen before on my relentless thorn bush. It was a bud. Not just one bud, but 40+ buds.  God had different plans than I did.

Nothing but the Truth. Those blooms changed everything.

I had long forgotten that this wasn't a thorn bush. This was a ROSE bush. It was designed to produce beautiful, fragrant roses - visible from afar.  Sure the thorns are still there, but they are worth it when I remember that its identity is a rose bush. I can't explain the mystery of why this mule rose bush remained dormant until last year. Perhaps it was so God could clearly speak to me last summer about the whole truth of myself & others.

I'm not a problem. I'm a person.

Even among my thorns, God creates blooms.  (2 Cor. 2:14-15)

People are not problems. People are people.

It is easy to be quick to dig out the problem people in our lives - but we forfeit the refining & forfeit the beauty that God can bring forth.  We forfeit the blooms.  The fragrant offering is living the pattern of Godly relationships.   (Eph. 5:2)

Fundamentally I'm created to be loved. When I'm not loved for who I'm created to be, it will always hurt. It will always attack my identity because I'm created to be loved. Likewise, I can never underestimate my role in reminding someone else of their true created identity. When I see someone as a prickly thorn bush, or oppositely distort love into lust, I become the speaker of lies in their life.  I become the thorns that torment & choke out little seedlings. 

So this year, 2014, I still struggle with seeing the potential for beauty among the thorns of life. But God is speaking to me through that rose bush.  This year there were hundreds of blooms.

It’s like sometimes, God just wants to brag.

I AM the one who answers your prayers and cares for you.

I AM the tree that is always green;

all of your fruit comes from ME.

Hosea 14:8