"For they indeed for a few days chastened us as seemed best to them, but He for our profit, that we may be partakers of His holiness. Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it." Hebrews 12:10-11
The book "Streams in the Desert" by Mrs. Charles E. Cowman is probably my favorite devotional book that I own. This book was first written back in 1925 and is a compilation of thoughts, quotations, and inspirational writings she collected that helped her through her time as a missionary in Japan and China, as well as 6 years of caring for her dying husband. Do you notice that she did not feel a need to use her first name but instead used her husband's? In our feminist driven society that would seem so threatening to some. But when you realize that God intended for a woman's husband to be her provider, her shelter, her protector, her covering....well, there is just something very sweet about the fact that this famous book is written by a woman only known as Mrs. Cowman. I find the thought simple and comforting. The following devotional is taken from this book.
In one of Ralph Conner's books he tells the story of Gwen. Gwen was a wild, willful lassie and one who had always been accustomed to having her own way. Then one day she met with a terrible accident which crippled her for life. She became very rebellious and in the murmuring state she was visited by the Sky Pilot, as the missionary among the mountaineers was termed.
He told her the parable of the canyon. "At first there were no canyons, but only broad, open prairie. One day the Master of the Prairie, walking over his great lawns, where were only grasses, asked the Prairie, "Where are your flowers?" and the Prairie said, "Master, I have no seeds."
"Then he spoke to the birds, and they carried seeds of every kind of flower and strewed them far and wide, and soon the prairie bloomed with crocuses and roses and buffalo beans and the yellow crowfoot and the wild sunflowers and the red lilies all summer long. Then the Master came and was well pleased; but he missed the flowers he loved best of all, and he said to the Prairie, "Where are the clematis and the columbine, the sweet violets and wind-flowers, and all the ferns and flowering shrubs?"
And again he spoke to the birds, and again they carried all the seeds and scattered them far and wide. But, again, when the Master came he could not find the flowers he loved best of all, and he said:
"Where are those my sweetest flowers?" and the Prairie cried sorrowfully:
"Oh, Master, I cannot keep the flowers, for the winds sweep fiercely, and the sun beats upon my breast, and they wither up and fly away."
Then the Master spoke to the Lightening, and with one swift blow the Lightening cleft the Prairie to the heart. And the Prairie rocked and groaned in agony, and for many a day moaned bitterly over the black, jagged, gaping wound.
But the River poured its waters through the cleft, and carried down deep black mould, and once more the birds carried seeds and strewed them in the canyon. And after a long time the rough rocks were decked out with soft mosses and trailing vines, and all the nooks were hung with clematis and columbine, and great elms lifted their huge tops high up into the sunlight, and down about their feet clustered the low cedars and balsams, and everywhere the violets and wind-flower and maiden-hair grew and bloomed, till the canyon became the Master's favorite place for rest and peace and joy.
Then the Sky Pilot read to her: "The fruit-I'll read 'flowers'-of the Spirit are love, joy, peace, long suffering, gentleness-and some of these grow only in the canyon."
"Which are the canyon flowers?" asked Gwen softly, and the Pilot answered: "Gentleness, meekness, long suffering; but though the others, love, joy, peace, bloom in the open, yet never with so rich a bloom and so sweet a perfume as in the canyon."
For a long time Gwen lay quite still, and then said wistfully, while her lips trembled: "There are no flowers in my canyon, but only ragged rocks."
"Some day they will bloom, Gwen dear; the Master will find them, and we, too, shall see them."
Beloved, when you come to your canyon, remember!
Isn't that a great story? When I read that devotional this week I thought, "Wow, that fits right in with what I have been studying!" We have all experienced those canyons, haven't we? Perhaps you are experiencing it right now. It seems daily we are reminded that this is a fallen world we live in, full of sickness, sorrow, pain...darkness. We face hardships, worries and desires that sometimes threaten to consume us. Unemployment, finances, soaring prices are the norm now. Is there anyone whose life has not been touched by cancer or heart disease in some way? Divorce is rampant. Infertility is on the rise. Depression is everywhere. Each of us has something in our life that could rob us of our joy. Something that leaves an ache within us that we carry deep inside. "How are you today?" "Oh, I'm fine." And the bitterness grows. Canyons.
Yet we have hope! For as Christians we know that with all we face, God is still on the throne! He is more mighty and powerful than anything this old world can throw at us. It is through these tough times that we grow and mature. The fruits ripen and grow sweeter. Think on that. God takes what Satan means to make us bitter and causes us to grow sweeter because of His Holy Spirit! But we must learn to trust Him when there is a longing or a need to be met in our life. Too often people who are hurting turn hard and bitter, never allowing the Holy Spirit to work within a problem.
It's not always about fixing it either. Sometimes problems are resolved. Sometimes it is something lifelong, such as it was with Gwen in the story. Sometimes things happen that sucker punch us. We aren't ready for them. We don't typically get up in the morning prepared to be devastated. We like to think we will never face a huge loss or disappointment. When we dream it is never with the thought that we may be forced to readjust our dreams.
But nothing happens in our lives that God isn't ready for. Nothing happens that He can't use to draw us unto Him. I don't think God is always so concerned with our comfort as much as He is concerned with transforming us. Yes, He is most definitely with us in our sorrows. But it is when we are going through the worst that we are most desperate for Him. And desperation for God means we fling open the door to our hearts, our souls, our lives, everything we are. Pride is thrown out. Which gives God room to put something in. "...afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness..."
When we choose to throw out our sinful and self-centered attitudes we allow God space to fill those empty spots up with His fruits! It doesn't even have to be that the problem went away. But our perception changes when instead of focusing on the hardship we choose to focus on Christ. Want His fruit to blossom in your life? Allow some pruning in your life!
The book "Streams in the Desert" by Mrs. Charles E. Cowman is probably my favorite devotional book that I own. This book was first written back in 1925 and is a compilation of thoughts, quotations, and inspirational writings she collected that helped her through her time as a missionary in Japan and China, as well as 6 years of caring for her dying husband. Do you notice that she did not feel a need to use her first name but instead used her husband's? In our feminist driven society that would seem so threatening to some. But when you realize that God intended for a woman's husband to be her provider, her shelter, her protector, her covering....well, there is just something very sweet about the fact that this famous book is written by a woman only known as Mrs. Cowman. I find the thought simple and comforting. The following devotional is taken from this book.
In one of Ralph Conner's books he tells the story of Gwen. Gwen was a wild, willful lassie and one who had always been accustomed to having her own way. Then one day she met with a terrible accident which crippled her for life. She became very rebellious and in the murmuring state she was visited by the Sky Pilot, as the missionary among the mountaineers was termed.
He told her the parable of the canyon. "At first there were no canyons, but only broad, open prairie. One day the Master of the Prairie, walking over his great lawns, where were only grasses, asked the Prairie, "Where are your flowers?" and the Prairie said, "Master, I have no seeds."
"Then he spoke to the birds, and they carried seeds of every kind of flower and strewed them far and wide, and soon the prairie bloomed with crocuses and roses and buffalo beans and the yellow crowfoot and the wild sunflowers and the red lilies all summer long. Then the Master came and was well pleased; but he missed the flowers he loved best of all, and he said to the Prairie, "Where are the clematis and the columbine, the sweet violets and wind-flowers, and all the ferns and flowering shrubs?"
And again he spoke to the birds, and again they carried all the seeds and scattered them far and wide. But, again, when the Master came he could not find the flowers he loved best of all, and he said:
"Where are those my sweetest flowers?" and the Prairie cried sorrowfully:
"Oh, Master, I cannot keep the flowers, for the winds sweep fiercely, and the sun beats upon my breast, and they wither up and fly away."
Then the Master spoke to the Lightening, and with one swift blow the Lightening cleft the Prairie to the heart. And the Prairie rocked and groaned in agony, and for many a day moaned bitterly over the black, jagged, gaping wound.
But the River poured its waters through the cleft, and carried down deep black mould, and once more the birds carried seeds and strewed them in the canyon. And after a long time the rough rocks were decked out with soft mosses and trailing vines, and all the nooks were hung with clematis and columbine, and great elms lifted their huge tops high up into the sunlight, and down about their feet clustered the low cedars and balsams, and everywhere the violets and wind-flower and maiden-hair grew and bloomed, till the canyon became the Master's favorite place for rest and peace and joy.
Then the Sky Pilot read to her: "The fruit-I'll read 'flowers'-of the Spirit are love, joy, peace, long suffering, gentleness-and some of these grow only in the canyon."
"Which are the canyon flowers?" asked Gwen softly, and the Pilot answered: "Gentleness, meekness, long suffering; but though the others, love, joy, peace, bloom in the open, yet never with so rich a bloom and so sweet a perfume as in the canyon."
For a long time Gwen lay quite still, and then said wistfully, while her lips trembled: "There are no flowers in my canyon, but only ragged rocks."
"Some day they will bloom, Gwen dear; the Master will find them, and we, too, shall see them."
Beloved, when you come to your canyon, remember!
Isn't that a great story? When I read that devotional this week I thought, "Wow, that fits right in with what I have been studying!" We have all experienced those canyons, haven't we? Perhaps you are experiencing it right now. It seems daily we are reminded that this is a fallen world we live in, full of sickness, sorrow, pain...darkness. We face hardships, worries and desires that sometimes threaten to consume us. Unemployment, finances, soaring prices are the norm now. Is there anyone whose life has not been touched by cancer or heart disease in some way? Divorce is rampant. Infertility is on the rise. Depression is everywhere. Each of us has something in our life that could rob us of our joy. Something that leaves an ache within us that we carry deep inside. "How are you today?" "Oh, I'm fine." And the bitterness grows. Canyons.
Yet we have hope! For as Christians we know that with all we face, God is still on the throne! He is more mighty and powerful than anything this old world can throw at us. It is through these tough times that we grow and mature. The fruits ripen and grow sweeter. Think on that. God takes what Satan means to make us bitter and causes us to grow sweeter because of His Holy Spirit! But we must learn to trust Him when there is a longing or a need to be met in our life. Too often people who are hurting turn hard and bitter, never allowing the Holy Spirit to work within a problem.
It's not always about fixing it either. Sometimes problems are resolved. Sometimes it is something lifelong, such as it was with Gwen in the story. Sometimes things happen that sucker punch us. We aren't ready for them. We don't typically get up in the morning prepared to be devastated. We like to think we will never face a huge loss or disappointment. When we dream it is never with the thought that we may be forced to readjust our dreams.
But nothing happens in our lives that God isn't ready for. Nothing happens that He can't use to draw us unto Him. I don't think God is always so concerned with our comfort as much as He is concerned with transforming us. Yes, He is most definitely with us in our sorrows. But it is when we are going through the worst that we are most desperate for Him. And desperation for God means we fling open the door to our hearts, our souls, our lives, everything we are. Pride is thrown out. Which gives God room to put something in. "...afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness..."
When we choose to throw out our sinful and self-centered attitudes we allow God space to fill those empty spots up with His fruits! It doesn't even have to be that the problem went away. But our perception changes when instead of focusing on the hardship we choose to focus on Christ. Want His fruit to blossom in your life? Allow some pruning in your life!
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