Psalm 1:3 says, “He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water,
That brings forth its fruit in its season,
Whose leaf also shall not wither:
And whatever he does shall prosper.”
That sounds great, I mean really, really awesome. Imagine always being positive and prosperous. Sounds like a dream. It must be possible because it says so in the Bible. I believe that. But what about the times that aren’t so great? What about the storms and the drought and the famine? There are times in everyone’s life where we just aren’t on top of the world and when everything around us seems to be falling apart. What about those times?
We went to the beach this morning and despite the fact that the weather here in town is unbearably hot, it was quite windy and cool at the beach. Not so bad I couldn’t take a dip in the cool water, but certainly not an ideal beach day. After I came out of the waves I noticed that on top of one of the high rocks there were plants growing. It’s actually quite a famous rock called Carriage Rock and it has a hole going all the way through.
As I looked at the plants struggling to survive on the top of that rock I wondered whether I would be able to survive in such harsh circumstances. There is absolutely no shelter whatsoever from the wind, rain and sun. The soil that there is can only be extremely shallow. So with almost no room for roots to grip, and not shelter from the elements how do these plants survive? I think it is by shear willpower. For the seeds to germinate in the first place is a miracle and now they are growing despite everything being against them. There are people like that. People who survive against the odds, who just press on and keep on going despite everything that life throws at them. They don’t look to others to sustain them, they don’t ask for handouts. They are the survivors, the salt of the earth, the overcomers.
Carriage Rock
Just like those plants on to of the rock they have built the houses of their lives on the rock and the winds and the rain cannot wash them away because they have found the Rock who is their firm foundation. In spite of their circumstances not being ideal when you see them you would think that they are the trees planted beside the waters because they are bearing fruit. They are positive and they are thriving.
Let us all be like these plants on the rock and not allow our circumstances to determine our attitude.
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