The Watering Can
Aug 14, 2014
The Bad Kind of Change
Change can be viewed 2 different ways: good or bad. But good change is always pretty easy to deal with. It’s the bad change that can be hard to deal with. The hard change is the kind that tests our faith, the kind that stretches our trust in God. A perfect example of someone enduring change and hardship is Job. In Job Chapter 1 God is practically bragging about Job to satan saying how faithful of a servant he is. So satan destroyed Job’s life! And in the midst of all this Job says…
” You clothed me with skin and flesh, and knit me together with bones and sinews. You have granted me life and steadfast love, and your care has preserved my spirit. Yet these things you hid in your heart; I know that this was your purpose.” – Job 10:11-13
Through all of Job’s hardships, anger, loss, and straight up torture He still acknowledged God as the steadfast and faithful God He is.
“Finally, brothers, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may speed ahead and be honored, as happened among you, and that we may be delivered from wicked and evil men. For not all have faith. But the Lord is faithful. He will establish you and guard you against the evil one. And we have confidence in the Lord about you, that you are doing and will do the things that we command. May the Lord direct your hearts to the love of God and to the steadfastness of Christ.” – 2 Thessalonians 3:1-5
Our God
God is always faithful. Regardless of our circumstances and how we handle them, God will always be there. Even when you turn your back on Him or give up on Him, He’s always there chasing after your heart. No matter what type of change, trials, and hardships we go through, His love and grace are more than enough.
“Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.” – Matthew 7:24-27
Our theology or our knowledge of who God is directly impacts how we live our lives everyday. If we view God as unjust, angry, and as the big man upstairs out to get us we won’t see Him as very faithful. When we see God for who he really is, steadfast, loving, faithful, just, good, and trustworthy, nothing will shake our foundation. A foundation that is laid from the truth of the gospel and a right view of our God.
The Watering Can
When you grow a plant it starts out as a seed. You plant the seed in a small pot with a little soil and water it until its roots grow too big for the pot and the plant needs to be moved to a bigger pot. When you uproot this plant here’s the dilemma. For the short time of change in that plants life it’s suffocating. Cut off from its life source. It seems as if the plant has been left to die and suffer all alone. But when the plant is placed in the new and different pot, it can grow and flourish like never before. The one thing that always kept the plant alive, that gave the plant the ability to grow stronger, that gave it the ability to make more plants, is the watering can. This watering can is God. Like the seed and plant, we are always changing where we are in life. When we’re uprooted from where we want to be or from our current situation it’s easy to feel alone and abandoned. But God is faithful and just in his ways. So when we get in our new “pot” His grace and love abound all the more. Our roots grow deep, our foundation grows strong, and we bear much fruit.