or… Count it all Dung!
The other day I was digging in the yard with an acquaintance who was short of cash and needed a few hours work to get something out of hock. I had plenty to do and was glad for the help, but sometimes even the best of help comes with a price. The litany of hardships and wrongs that life has dealt her was getting a bit old when a neighbor’s dog decided to leave a deposit in the nearby azalea patch. Typically, that which I thought of as fertilizer she viewed as the height of insult and it helped me realize what we do to each other and to God with our attitudes and our tongues. After all poop happens, and we can be distributers of it ourselves without even knowing it!
I am visual by nature and find spiritual lessons in the oddest places. Like those wonderful hidden pictures in the Highlights magazine for children, God has tucked “aha” moments in every facet of His creation. They are everywhere, like Easter eggs, in the bushes, up trees, behind rocks, dancing in the eyes of children or abandoned and rotting in some hole from the year before. Every jelly bean and every deer pellet has its purpose, and when one really thinks about it, the deer pellet is better in the long run for, when it disintegrates and is assimilated, it encourages growth.
Nothing is wasted in God’s creation. Just because we don’t like something does not mean that it is bad or even harmful. Everything that God permits is specifically designed to teach us a lesson about His character, His providence and His love. It is up to us to decide whether or not we will accept the offering. Even manure has its good points.
Every farmer knows that a garden without fertilizer is not worth the effort. The Bible tells us that God dungs His own garden. Luke 13:8. Manure is a fact of nature and essential for growth, but when it comes to dispensing it, I would rather be a Tootsie Roll.
To the Glory of God
April 17, 2011
