I love this plant. Alchemilla mollis, or Lady's Mantle, is everywhere in my garden. It has soft leaves with fluttery edges that catch the dew and raindrops. The flowers don't smell nice, but they make nice bouquets with roses and other bright coloured flowers and act as a backdrop for any flower I choose. It turns the raindrops into poetry. It complements and highlights the other plants. I am always sad when it goes over because then the garden looks leggy and the weeds start to seem more obvious.
As I often like to say, "there's a sermon in that", and this plant speaks to me about suffering. That may be a sign of where my mind is at though!!
Sometimes I hear other Christians say things like "what is God trying to teach me?" or "God is using this to teach me something". But there is an implication that God is putting me into the situation so I can learn something.
As I've said in this blog many times, God does NOT inflict suffering on His children. What kind of view of God is that anyway? How do you hold the belief of a loving Father Who IS Love in tandem with a Father who would select painful circumstances with the express purpose of educating His children?
I see suffering more like the Alchemilla mollis: it is an opportunity for God to showcase His grace which acts as a backdrop and underpinning for everything. The Bible says that "I can do all things through Christ" and we have turned it into a trite saying on coffee cups and posters with cats dangling from something.
Suffering is a showcase for the way God redeems. Each situation presents its own challenges, and God rises to meet them with us in tow. Only as we look back can we see the progress we made. Change is inevitable but it is also voluntary.
Here are some of the pathways I have been on. Take a minute and look back at yours. You will be amazed. Then, take a moment to glory in what God has done. No, you wouldn't want to repeat some of those dark times. No one asks for suffering. But God... He is the One Who made you what you are today.
1. God can be trusted.
This is probably the baseline thing to learn. Once I know God is trustworthy I can move on to trust Him more in daily situations and in struggles. Does He want the best for me? Is He really, truly good?
2. God speaks to me.
This has been one of the single most important discoveries I have ever made. Knowing that God speaks isn't enough. I've also had to learn how to hear God for myself. I talk about hearing God in my post about discouragement.
3. God is good.
To use a British expression, this is number 1 "with knobs on". It is that step further. God isn't just good, He is completely good, completely for me and on my side.
4. Stuff happens that God didn't plan.
God doesn't "give you anything you can't handle". That's so untrue! We are faced with situations we can't handle all the time, and some of them are definitely not in His plan for our lives. See number 5...
5. BUT GOD....
God redeems. That's what He does. It doesn't matter how off-the-path we get. He can make something out of what we pull apart. No amount of destruction can faze God. He's never put off because He is always creating. Having said all that, He understands that it takes us time to recover, and regrow before we can move into the new, redeemed path He creates for us.
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