Years ago I was in a field with a friend who is a farmer. He picked up a clod of dirt, played with it in his hand, and said, “Not yet.” He explained that when dirt will crumble easily in his hand, then it’s time to plow and plant. An illustration there: When you feel that your life is crumbling, it’s the time when God will plant big spiritual growth into your outlook on life.
Martin Luther wrote about God’s goodness, “The comfort is too great and the joy too glorious and the heart of man too small and narrow to have attained it.” How hard for us to know the comfort and the joy of God when our circumstances are crumbling!
That’s the right time – when passages from God’s Word can plant hope in our crumbled circumstances. “When the cares of my heart are many, your consolations cheer my soul” (Psalm 94:19). Then we learn that God really means all – not some but all. “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28). So Luther concluded, “Through suffering, we may finally succeed and attain this heart and cheer, joy and consolation, from Christ’s resurrection.” Out of crumbling circumstances, new life, resurrection!
“In Thee, Lord, have I put my trust; Leave me not helpless in the dust, let me not be confounded.
Let in Thy Word, my faith, O lord, be always firmly grounded.” (The Lutheran Hymnal, 524, 1)
(This Minute is from “Timely Reflections,” available from www.tripillarpublishing.com.)
Comments