Nature surprises me every time. When you think you know how the seasons go, then boom something out of the ordinary or what we like to call normal changes and your left wondering what just happened? In the recent times the world has experienced extremely hot heat waves leading to wildfires, devastating floods that have destroyed both humans and properties with drought in other places, the list is endless. Mother nature has been busy lately and unfortunately, she’s something that we can’t control, only God can.
On the flip side of it however, nature has also learnt to make the best out of what it gets. Take for example, when it rains everything becomes green and beautiful! The grass grows, and all we see is green all around us. The beautiful flowers bloom and bring out the best of its colours, while the trees dig their roots deeper to get all the nutrients, they need to carry them forward and continue in their growth. During rainy season, plants thrive and take in the best of what they need and require for the season they are in! However nature does something spectacular as the seasons keep changing, it adapts to what it gets and receives. After the rains are gone and the sun comes out, it’s all hot, dry and humid and the same plantations must find their own way to survive.
Most of them have enough food and water stored in their roots, which helps to keep them alive in the season of the scorching heat of the sun. They developed what we humans call, ‘coping mechanisms,’ to help them survive and thrive until the next rainy season. Another beautiful thing that nature does is, it doesn’t conform to the standards that the different seasons give it, but rather it adapts and learns to survive with what it has. Flowers don’t become trees and grass don’t become flowers during the drought season, they each know who they are and maintain who they are even during the drought season. If it means losing a few leaves or branches to be able to survive then so be it, they will do it. They survive and thrive and give birth to the next generation of plants that will continue to do the same thing. They can do this because of the One who created all living things – God. “The Heavens proclaim the Glory of God. The skies display His craftmanship,” Psalms 19:1.
We can learn a lot from nature by looking and seeing how it thrives through all the seasons that it goes through. Jesus reminds us to have a look at nature and learn from it in Luke 12:27-28 “look at the lilies and how they grow. They don’t work or make their clothing, yet Solomon in all his glory was not dressed as beautifully as they are. And if God cares so wonderfully for flowers that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow, He will certainly care for you. Why do you have so little faith?”
Majority of the times, me included, we as human beings have lost sight of who God is because of the circumstances that we have gone through. When we go through tough situations in our lives, we forget who God is and allow our thoughts to get louder and the best of us. We question God of His existence and wonder why He’s allowing so much hurt and pain in our lives. To some extent we want to throw in the towel and be done with everything. Life hits us so hard and in those painful situations, we learn that we didn’t really learn who we are, who we belong to and what we were capable of. To some extent, we’ve allowed ourselves to conform to what the circumstances around us have made us to be and what other people expect and think of us.
Despite us having a voice of our own, we have silenced ourselves for the sole reason that we don’t want to be a bother to anyone even as life humbles us to the very core of our being! Truth be told life humbles all of us in immense ways and leaves you wondering ‘what just happened?’ One minute you were completely fine and the next, your whole life has been turned upside down. Shock, pain, anger and denial are emotions that follow and they cut through our hearts like a sharp Japanese Katana blade. For majority of us, we get stuck here in the pain and because our nervous system doesn’t know how to handle all the emotions, we stuck them up at the back of our minds and tell ourselves, “We are fine.” The danger of this strategy is that your body no longer knows how to handle issues and soon it accepts what it receives as the gospel truth, even if what it receives is a lie. You move on with life thinking your voice doesn’t matter and we slowly become ‘the nonessentials, to be seen and not to be heard”
Now we all know for a wound to be healed, it must be exposed and it’s the same for our emotional wounds which we have kept in hiding and in little boxes at the back of our minds with the hope that we will deal with it when we are ready. But are we ever ready to come face to face with the pain we couldn’t cope with in the first place? No, we aren’t, however, we must be willing to face our issues that we’ve buried since time memorial. It could be one, two or even ten little boxes but the sooner we start unboxing them do we realize how much pain we’ve been hiding for the sake of choosing peace, being the bigger person, belittling and shrinking ourselves and in the end, you don’t become the person that God has called you to be. You thwart your own success, and you constantly live in fear.
However, what does the Bible say on such issues? Sometimes we like to think that God is silent on emotional pain and hurt but He isn’t. In Matthew 10:16, Jesus was sending out His disciples for ministry, and He gave them a profound message, “Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. Therefore, be wise as serpents and harmless as doves.” Let me confess, for a long time I never understood this verse, and I wondered why Jesus used the example of a snake. But I finally came to understand what He meant. Snakes are naturally thought of as sneaky, crafty creatures while doves are thought of as innocent and symbols of peace. Jesus is basically telling His disciples not to be naive (overly trusting) so that they don’t get scummed! He’s urging them to be wise, know how the world operates and as they do all that, they should maintain the innocence of a dove.
How do we relate this to our current times? Truth be told the people that have hurt us the most are those closest to us and it’s because they had access and took advantage of it. Maya Angelou an American poet and civil rights activist is quoted with these famous words, “when someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time.” Actions speak louder than words. People reveal their true character, integrity and values through their behaviour and not what they promise or claim to be. Which means if their behaviour keeps getting louder than what they keep promising, then you don’t need further explanations of ‘I will change trust me,’ because they won’t. and if you keep trying to change people to become a better version of themselves when they don’t see it, you end up losing yourself and risk running on empty with no one to fuel you.
Like Nature, learn, adapt and grow. Allow your roots to be deeply rooted in the one and only firm foundation – Jesus Christ. Don’t let the painful situations that have been brought in your life through family, hardships of life turn you into a bitter human being. Even where they refuse to be accountable for their actions, choose forgiveness so that you can heal on your own instead of waiting and wondering when they will truly see you for who you are. You are a beauty, created in the image of God and there is no one else like you in this world. If someone doesn’t see what you bring to the table, no matter how much you try to make them see it, they will never see it. So don’t wait for the apology that will never come, don’t wait for the day they will change and value you, live your God given life because only God can change a human being, it is not your God given responsibility. The minute you realize this, a load will be taken off your shoulders, and you will finally see your life through the eyes of your maker and not another human being.
Finally, in the words of Paul in Philippians 4:8 “Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable – if anything is excellent or praiseworthy – think about such things.” When the dry season of your life comes because it will come, hold on & cling to Jesus and allow Him to carry you through the tough season. He is your Shepherd and He knows where the streams of water for your journey are located. He will protect you from the predators at night, and when it’s all done, He will lay a table before you in front of your enemies. He is your strength, your shield and the love of your life. Trust Him.
God bless you.
