In the past, we have often viewed weeds as sins or the cares of this life, as in the parable of the seeds in Matthew 13. Today we had a sweet revelation that weeds could also be seen as trials. Trials, like weeds, have a way of coming up. They cause frustration, pain and weariness. They take from your soil. They damage your reputation of having it all together. They cause your callused hands to reach out for heaven. And like weeds, they are of God's making.
Yet sometimes the Lord turns our trials into the sweetest blessings, beyond what we could have imagined. In fact, He promises to do this for his children!
For years, there has been a persistent weed in one of our garden beds. We tried to pull it, cut it and wondered where in the world the dreadful thing came from. This year, we just let it go. In a sense, we finally submitted to the Lord's will of putting this trial in our lives. Then, one morning, we noticed the weed was preparing to bloom. We checked it every day, in hope that the bloom would reveal the identity of the plant. Well, this morning it bloomed- The most gorgeous, sweet smelling Peony! Unbelievably beautiful. How dumb we were not to know!
In a similar way, one day, we will look back on our momentary afflictions and see the ravishing beauty of the eternal weight of glory Christ prepared for us in them.
In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith- more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire- may be found to result in praise, glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 1 Peter 1:6-7
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