Something I needed to share

[Marilise]

Geraniums



"As the heavens are
higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts
than your thoughts."

Isaiah 55:9, ESV



I’ve always enjoyed having plants in the house and put some effort into
nurturing them. I water them every morning and have been watching this summer,
as leaves and flowers have budded and grown and small plants have started to
grow bigger. It brings joy and pleasure.



I have a geranium which sits just at the foot of my patio door. One morning I
pulled the curtains back as usual and unusually, pulled the plant over. It fell
on its side. I was cross with myself for doing this – my plant, which I was
carefully nurturing and I had knocked it over! I picked it up and put it back,
and in doing so noticed that a caterpillar had fallen out of the plant and was
lying on the carpet. How strange! I swept it and the dirt up.



A little while later I noticed that several of the leaves had holes in. Ah… the
caterpillar must have been eating them. Gradually I realised that if the
caterpillar had been allowed to stay – I didn’t know it was there – it would
have eaten the whole geranium plant. In fact, I had seen one such example
recently in another garden somewhere.



Gradually I also realised that it was the kindness of the Lord that I had
knocked the plant over, because if I hadn’t, the caterpillar wouldn’t have been
knocked out of the plant, and the plant saved from being ravaged. So instead of
being cross with myself, I should have been thankful for what the Lord had
done.



It set me thinking. So often we view things from our own perspective. We see a
situation, and, based on what we know, we make a judgement, or we react. Little
do we see what the Lord is working out behind the scenes. So things may seem
bad initially but, if we’re in the Lord’s will, and we hold on to Him, trusting
Him that He has a bigger plan than we can see, then the issues which seem
problems, mistakes or disasters in our lives, may actually be part of the Lord
working out His higher purposes in our lives for our good.



As we read in Isaiah: ‘As
the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and
my thoughts than your thoughts’. So, when we’re told to trust the
Lord, to hold on to Him – it’s for good reason. He has good plans for us, but
because He has the bigger picture, the way of working that plan out may not
make sense to us at the time. Why is this happening Lord? Why are you not
answering Lord? Maybe it’s happening because He’s working out His fuller
purposes. Let’s decide to trust the Lord today, whatever our circumstances; to
give Him thanks no matter what we’re facing. He has our good at heart and that
of all His creation.



Prayer: Dear Lord, I thank You that Your love
is higher than the heavens and that Your faithfulness reaches to the skies. I’m
sorry for the times I don’t trust You, and today I choose to trust You in all
my circumstances. Thank You for the blessings I can see, and for the blessings
I can’t see yet. Thank You that You’re working out Your plans and purposes in
and through me. Thank You that You’re my shepherd and You lead me to safety,
even in the presence of my enemies. Amen.

[Moo]

I don't consider myself the most spiritual or religious person out there but I too have a story that does seem to prove that there is indeed a higher power at work.

It took me 10 long years to get back to Australia after having lived in Sydney for 3 years and having experienced a 457 wobble.
It was the longest and saddest 10 years of my life as I was devastated to have had to leave Australia but determined to get back.

In short a number of unfortunate things delayed my return. I had an agent close shop and run away with all my money after a 2 year wait. It took all of my strength to start afresh with a positive attitude but it wasn't easy at all.

In the end I managed to get a Regional sponsored Visa to live in South Australia. I had never been to Adelaide but the second I got there it felt like home and I loved every second of it. I always wondered "Why Adelaide?"

The answer came when i met a man who is originally from Adelaide and was visiting family at Christmas.

I am now living in Canberra with this wonderful man and have acquired a "new family" in the process. We are very much in love and i thank God for sending me this way and waiting until all was right with my attitude and heart to be open to love again. (I had been single for close on 20 years!!!!!)

I really believed that this was meant to be.

[Jamie]

Thanks for sharing your stories. We all gain strength from them.

Bless you x

[Bams]

Thank you for sharing and a BIG AMEN to that.

I have two "things" on my dressing table that I read every morning:

"Blesses is he who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in Him."

and

"For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord."

And on my keys a plaque that reads:

"With God everything is possible"

and

"I can do everything through Him who gives me strength"

These carry me everyday and I hold on to them with all my heart, mind and body.

Without Him this would be impossible...

Praying for all my forum friends for every stage and every step.

[Mikej]

So what happened to the caterpillar?

[Eva]

So what happened to the caterpillar?

turned into a beautiful butterfly and flew away?

[AndreaL]

So what happened to the caterpillar?

Oh my, ever the pragmatist I was thinking exactly the same thing! I myself try to grow things in my garden and face the eternal dilemma of what to do about critters that eat my Chilli flowers, the possums who think I run a 24 hour take away, the cane toads vs the native frogs, I've decided to take a Darwinian approach and stand back to let nature sort itself out.

I'm a softie though, I would have taken a leaf from the geranium and placed the caterpillar elsewhere in the garden to finish his meal and hopefully move on elsewhere....lol