The Need To Be Crushed

I was sitting outside today working in my garden. I picked another cucumber with much pride and joy. I then went to check on my basil. I plucked off one of the dried flowers and gave it a squeeze. Out popped several tiny seeds. I gathered a few and then took them into my husband to show off a great success. Not only had I managed to successfully grow my basil but also to propagate it for a new crop. Back out to the porch I went. Sitting with my handful of dried brittle flowers I began to crush each tiny flower to extract the 4-5 seeds nestled in each one. The wind is picking up and the hummingbirds buzzing and peeping overhead at the feeder are pretty much the only sounds. I enjoy this little bit of peace and quite. Then, while I'm harvesting my seeds the question returned to my mind; why does such a good God let people go through such horrible things? It really can not be answered by one answer but I held in my hand a visual of one of the reasons. We need to be crushed from time to time to bring forth our fruits. I would never be able to get the seeds out if I didn't crush the dried flowers. We come to places in our lives where we become dry and seemingly useless. But, God takes our tiny, fragile lives in His hands and begins to crush us. How painful the process is and how much we complain but in the end we have produced fruit that God can then plant and grow. I have had some crushing times in my life; some unavoidable some totally by my doing. For example, the miscarriages that I have gone through have been excruciating and how I fought and even cursed God for the pain that He kept allowing me to go through. But now, God has taken that in my life and has used it to plant new life into others. Seeing the seeds of my pain bring new life to others now brings me so much joy. Satan seeks to kill anything of good though. The crushing times that I have gone through due to my sin God does use to bring about good. Those seeds are wisdom that I have gained through my failings. However, Satan is right there to try and dig up those seeds as quickly as he can. It is painful to see my seeds killed. But, never-the-less some are sown on fertile ground and those make it all worth while.

So, next time you find yourself in a painful and trying situation, just try and see what God is trying to squeeze out of you. The reward in the end is well worth it.