Out of thorns

No chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful. – Hebrews 12:11

The gorse bush is a shrub that was imported from Europe and now grows wild in the Pacific Northwest. It has dense, dark green shoots, and in springtime it provides a dazzling display of fragrant, vibrant yellow flowers. But it’s best known by hikers and fishermen for its vicious spines.

Remarkably, the flowers grow right out of the thorns.

Missionary and artist Lilies Trotter wrote, "The whole year round the thorn has been hardening and sharpening. Spring comes – the thorn does not drop off, it does not soften. There it is as uncompromising as ever, but half way up appear two brown fuzzy balls, mere specks at first, that break at last – straight out of last year’s thorn – into a blaze of golden glory."

So it is with the suffering that accompanies God’s chastening. Just when our situation seems hopeless and hardest to bear, tiny signs of life appear that will soon burst into bloom. Take the toughest issue, the most difficult place. There, God in His grace can cause His beauty to be seen in you.

No chastening seems pleasant at the time. "Yet when it is all over we can see that it has quietly produced the fruit of real goodness in the characters of those who have accepted it in the right spirit" (Hebrews 12:11 Phillips). – David Roper

For all the heartaches and the tears,
For gloomy days and fruitless years
I do give thanks, for now I know
These were the things that helped me grow! – Crandlemire

READ: Hebrews 12:7-11

God’s hand of discipline is a hand of love.