succulents, suffering and 2 corinthians

its been so long since I've posted here-
here is something I have been ruminating on:

our latest obsession is succulents. we have been browsing them in stores and online, we have been putting them in pots and planters, we love them. succulents are quirky plants. they grow into weird shapes and colors. they come in every color of the rainbow, and you can find them mimicking geometric shapes and designs. we have seen succulents that grow in the shape of stars, a dragon's mouth, plus-signs, squares, even one that looks just like a cherry lifesaver.

when it comes to the care of succulents, the main bit of advice is: let them dry out. don't water them very often; resist the urge to water them at all. I have been often told that too much water with make their roots rotten, and can actually kill them. they grow in the desert, in the rocks, under the hot sun. they are hearty plants. they are strong and hard to kill. even when they are out of the soil, their roots will grow and search for soil, or something to attach to. they hoard water and save it inside themselves.  they are amazing.

that's one thought that I have been thinking about- here is a second one- and I think they overlap. I have been memorizing the book of 2 Corinthians over the last few months. and it has a lot to say about comfort and distress. the first appearance of this idea is in 2 corinthians 1:8 where Paul talk about a recent difficult episode, he says, " We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about the hardships we suffered in the province of Asia. We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired even of life. Indeed, in our hearts we felt the sentence of death." I have often wondered what was going on here. what is this great pressure that paul was dealing with? what was pressuring him so much that he "despaired even of life?" in the next line he says, "But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead. He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us, as you help us by your prayers." I think Paul is saying, "God had a purpose for this trial- it was to pull me closer to Himself. it was to push me to stop relying on myself and lean on God."

probably the most famous mention of suffering and distress is 2 Corinthians 12:7 where Paul shares, " To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me." what do you think this was? was it a physical ailment? he had lived a difficult life. in 2 Corinthians he shares about surviving beatings and stonings- that must have left him nearly crippled. was this thorn supernatural? he calls it a messenger from satan. he doesn't say. here is the part that breaks my heart: "Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” I imagine paul crying out to God and asking Him for relief from this thorn- and God did not grant his request. what was that like? it had to be heartbreaking. God tells him, "I'm not taking this away. its staying with you. when you are strong you rely on yourself, when you are weak you rely on Me." God was using this thorn to pull Paul closer to himself. even Paul needed to grow closer to God. He continues, "Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong."

so these 2 thoughts have been sitting together in my brain- paul growing stronger through weakness- and my succulents growing bigger and more vibrant when I deny them water. maybe God is like me with my plants thinking, "I should water them. they look really dry. I'm sure they will be happier with water." but I know that they will do better when they dry out. they will be stronger. they will grow flowers, their roots will dig deep, and their petals will reach toward the sun if I deny them the comfort of a cool splash of water.

maybe we are like the succulents- wondering when will we ever be watered? but God is like a gardener, and He knows just what we need and when. He knows what will bring out the best in us.

I think that mostly, we are like Paul- living with thorns and asking for them to be removed. and just like with Paul, God tells us that His grace is sufficient for this day and this season. we don't need anything more. He tells us that when we are weak, then we are strong, because when we are weak that we stop leaning on ourselves, and draw closer in depending on Him. and just like paul we can say, "for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong."

just like my plants, when they are dry, they are actually growing.
it doesn't make sense does it? in the end paul says, "I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me." just like a succulent, he says, "I want to grow. and this is the way that I'm growing."

God is love.
-rev-rob