The Bush I’ve Tried to Kill
I got out of the car the other day and looked at the side of our house, where I saw the flowers below and laughed out loud. Since we moved into this house a few years ago, I have been trying to get the side patch in our yard cleared out. When we moved in, it was all overgrown with plants and shrubs and vines. Everything was mangled together in a huge mess.
This one shrub, I have hacked and hacked to death trying to get it out of our yard. I thought I succeeded last year. When I walked over to get a closer look at the flowers, I saw that they were part of the shrub I thought I’d gotten rid of. There’s really no reason any flowers should be blooming. I have tried to destroy that shrub, but this one branch stayed alive and produced flowers.
As soon as I saw the flowers, I knew I wanted to take a picture because—what a life lesson. I want to be like those flowers—that no matter how hard life gets, no matter what’s thrown my way, against all odds, I’m still standing. And not only am I still standing, but I’m thriving.
When Life Knocks You Down
What has life thrown at you this year? What has come your way that should have knocked you down and taken you out of the game? Life’s hard, and nobody gets a pass. What has threatened to destroy your joy, your passion, your love for God and others?
Whatever it is, I want to challenge you to not let it. Choose to get back up again if you’ve fallen. Remember, it’s not whether we’ve fallen or not that makes us a success; it’s whether we get back up after we’ve fallen and keep going.
Proverbs 24:16 KJV
For a just man falleth seven times, and riseth up again…
Refuse to Give Up
If you’ve been knocked down, you’re not out of the game, not yet. Stand back up; brush yourself off, and put yourself back in the game. You have to choose to keep going. Don’t give up on that dream. Don’t walk away from this opportunity just because it got hard. Refuse to let somebody’s criticism or harsh words keep you from doing what you know God wants you to do.
Just like my flowers, you can bloom no matter the circumstances. Usually the most beautiful flowers and the ones that catch our attention the most are the ones blooming where they shouldn’t be. They’re the flowers blooming in the crack of a cement wall, in the middle of a desert, on the side of a cliff, or on railroad tracks. It’s the flowers that have defied all odds that capture our attention.
Be like the plant that blooms despite all odds. No matter what life throws your way, don’t quit. Keep going; keep blooming. When you do, you will be a beauty for others to behold and inspiration for them not to quit.
For More Encouragement
For more on this topic, read Stick It Out: 3 Daily Choices to Prevent Quitting. A great book on this topic is Breakthrough: Transforming the Death of a Dream to the Birth of a Breakthrough by Matt Manney.
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