A Single Blade of Grass

Every spring, countless people burn off their yards. They light the grass on fire and let the fire go. The purpose of this is to clean the yard of anything that shouldn't be there, especially invasive weeds. Although by doing this, the yard is left a charred, black ugly mess for weeks. However, slowly but surely, tiny blades of a vibrant green grass start to emerge from the ashes. Soon, the yard is a luscious patch of beautiful green pasture. Our lives are like those yards. We can cut the grass, pull up the weeds, and fertilize the soil. No matter how much we try, there are still patches in the yard where grass refuses to grow. And no matter how many times we pull up the weeds, they keep returning. Sometimes those weeds return in more numerous numbers and bigger than before. We can try on our own to make our yards beautiful, but sometimes it takes a more drastic measure. A yard cleaning so thorough that only God can do the weeding. The Bible assures us that we will all be tested by fire, so we can be refined like gold. Right now, your life may be in flames, still burning and destroying everything beautiful in sight. Or your life could be what remains after the fire sweeps through your life- a big, ugly, black, charred wasteland. Or your life could be in the rebirth of growth, with blades of grass springing forth from the ashes making way for a glorious green field of beauty.


Right now, I can honestly say that I have been through the burning flames. Nothing in my world has been left untouched by the scorching fire. My life has been a wasteland of ashes, where everything looked bleak, hopeless, and plain ugly. However, through God's grace and mercy, my life is now springing forth with new growth. A beauty so abundant that it can't be measured. It started with just a blade popping up here and there, but in time, more and more blades continue to grow and now my lawn is beginning to look even more beautiful than before. All I can attest to is that the new growth in my life has been a creation that only God Himself could bring about. He is the only one who can bring forth beauty from ashes.

Sometimes God allows pain and suffering into our lives for a reason. For a greater purpose that only He can see. Rest assured that God will never tempt us, but sometimes like in the story of Job, He will allow Satan to tempt us. He allows this because He wants our faith to grow and to teach us a few lessons along the way. Sometimes it takes a good run-in with the flames of hell to help set our faith on fire! When life is going well and you are happy and things seem to be going your way, God gets pushed aside. Yeah, we may take Him off the shelf on Sunday and for a quick reading of a chapter of Scripture at night and a hurried prayer over the dinner table. But we never fully need to depend on Him, because we are walking around on our own strength. I was that person. I had everything a girl could want. Things were going great. However, all of that changed in an instant and I suddenly found myself thrown into the fiery flames and desperately seeking a way to extinguish them. I prayed to God for Him to put the fire out in my life that was consuming everything that I loved. But He didn’t. God knew that everything in my life needed to be burned to the ground. He needed to remove those things in my life that I thought I needed to exist and be happy; to take away the things that I depended on for security. I seriously believed in the midst of the flames that I would surely be burned and scarred so severely that I wouldn’t get out alive. I’m beginning to realize that I was rescued and made it out with nothing more than maybe smoke inhalation! Praise God!! The only thing that God wants from us is our love. He wants us to depend on Him for everything. To praise Him for our blessings and to seek Him in times of trouble. He wants to be our everything. If we allow Him to be our everything, we can experience a joy and a love so profound, that we realize that love and joy from other sources can’t even compare to the unfailing love of the Father and the Son. In this time of great trial, I have had to lean on Christ as I have never had to lean on Him before in my life. He finally brought me to my knees and broke me of my pride and arrogance thinking that I could take care of myself. I had weeds growing in my heart and in my life that I didn’t even realize had invaded. Thank goodness God is the great Gardener and could pluck those weeds out and then cultivate the soil of my heart to make it ready to receive the seeds that He wanted planted instead. It has been a long learning process and He still has things to teach me that I need to learn. Those seeds He planted are beginning to sprout. I no longer need to wade through the ashes looking for charred remains of my previous life. God has laid the foundation of a promise for a brand new life, one even better than the one I had previously. God has taught me that I am here on this Earth to love Him. To serve Him. To bring glory to Him. God gave us a free will because He wants us to choose Him willingly. He wants us to love him with everything within us. He wants our faith to grow!! Yes, there are times that I am like doubting Thomas, but instead of asking to see the nail scars on His hands or the wound in His side, I have to ask God to help me believe in my faith. To believe that He holds my future in the palm of His hands and that He makes things perfect in His own time. God has had to beat patience into my heart over and over. To trust in Him fully and faithfully. Slowly but surely, my blades of faith are peaking up through those black ashes.

The reason why I am sharing all of this is to shed some light on the truth. God has revealed Himself to me more clearly than I have ever seen Him before. Instead of feeling sorry for ourselves when times of trials head our way, we should look at that time to grow some deep roots with God. To see our sufferings as blessings because through suffering our endurance and strength in Him grows! And fires in our life help get us running in His direction for safety and refuge. So if you are in the midst of some kind of trouble in your life-lift it up to God in prayer. Let Him begin to put out those flames in your life. God will supply the all the water you need, if you will hold the hose and point it in the right direction! Let Him remove in your life what needs to be gone. Obediently follow Him and let Him speak to your heart and lead you in the right direction. And once you have sifted through the ashes, let the re-growth begin! I promise you, I have been through the toughest time in my life and it’s still not over; but I have a renewed strength and gladness in my heart that I could never have imagined was possible. God is faithful. Do you feel like something is missing in your life? God can fulfill it. Not feeling loved? God has more love than you can imagine! Not feeling appreciated? God considers you precious in His sight! Not feeling joy? God can turn your weeping into dancing! Trying to fill that void in your heart with people or things? God’s the only thing that will make you feel complete! I just had to share with you some of the things that are happening in my life right now. I want to testify at how great my God is and the miracles he can perform in your life. He is the great I AM. You need a healer? He’s the great physician. You hungry for a fulfilling life? He’s the bread of life. Whatever need you have, he is the great I AM _____ (fill in the blank). Apparently I needed a good yard man, thank goodness God said to me I AM He. My yard needed a good overhaul, one blade of grass at a time. What about yours?