Lodged - Tuesday January 19, 2016
We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed. 2 Corinthians 4:8-9 ESV
We live at the bottom of a hill; when the rain pours down, the pipe under our driveway gets clogged with leaves and sticks washing down a creek from the woods. The water streams over the driveway, looking to return to the creek. Last summer a torrent tore through our sea of sunflowers out front, knocking a swath of them flat.
As a one-woman rescue team, I examined the damage. I grieved over the beautiful, long-stemmed blossoms struck down. "Lodged," a poem by Robert Frost, came to mind:
The rain to the wind said,
"You push and I'll pelt."
They so smote the garden bed
That the flowers actually knelt,
And lay lodged – though not dead.
I know how the flowers felt.
This poem has applied many times in my life. Paul the Apostle makes it clear in his second letter to the Corinthians that he too knew "how the flowers felt." Look at his words above: "afflicted," perplexed," "persecuted," "struck down." You would expect Paul's response to have been depression or despair. However, he had an unseen power that sustained him. Listen to his "but nots": "but not crushed," "but not despairing," "but not forsaken," "but not destroyed." He may have lain "lodged," but he was always raised by the Lord who says, "I will never leave you nor forsake you" (Hebrews 13:5 ESV). Look to Him today.
Submitted by:
Dotty Vanderhorst
Cornerstone Community Church
Overland Park, Kansas
One-Year Reading Plan:
Genesis 39:1-41:16
Matthew 12:46-13:33
Psalms 17:1-15
Proverbs 3:33-35
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