Friday, July 20, 2012

Discarded Regeneration

Dad  recently discarded  a Hosta plant that just wasn’t doing well where it was planted.  It was dying.  So, he did what anyone would do.  He got rid of it, throwing it into the rocky area behind some trees in the back yard.    A few weeks later he noticed that the plant had somehow re-rooted itself.  It’s like the plant wanted to prove it could survive even the toughest treatment and the injustice of being misunderstood.   The plant not only survived but thrived, like God had done a miracle of regeneration and renewal in the face of people giving up on it.  

Dad, in his mercy and grace, helped the plant.  It is now doing very well after being repotted in new soil by his generous hands.    Even after being devalued and disgarded,  it is flourishing in a new place, blossoming to God’s glory.    With new soil and a new setting it has become a beautiful plant, growing like it was totally regenerated.   It just needed a replant with change that granted renewed opportunity.
There are people and forces in the world who would like to see you deleted and discarded. You've been misunderstood.   People have sometimes given up on you, or someone you know.

Not God. 

Don't give up on yourself or others.

Be encouraged.

“So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer.  Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!”  (2 Cor 5:16-18)

13 comments:

  1. Steve, I concur with what you wrote. (Isn't it neat how God fills our hearts with words?) Many times I have felt that way. . . discarded, that is, now as a disabled man. Honestly, I do well and seem to "fit-in" among the disabled community. But when I am in the "normal" context, the place I used to be (the Church-pastoral community, etc), I now don't seem to fit in. It has improved some, especially now that I have learned how to take some initiative. But still, I look, sound, and do things that are a bit awkward and some people just don't know how to enter in. And some do discard me. I must say, recently I am joyful and I don;t worry so much about what people think. I do feel free to be me, the way God has redesigned me! Yeah, you could kind of say.... I was that plant that somehow was "re-rooted." I liked these words you said, "God had done a miracle of regeneration and renewal in the face of people giving up on it."
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O8mUynOhDWw

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    1. Thank you so much for posting. Your words are encouraging and your story is a blessing, inspiring to others.

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  2. Steve,

    What a great message about the mercy and grace of God! I appreciated the opportunity to read it. Keep up the good work.

    Terry
    author of Jumpstart Your Publishing Dreams

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  3. Hi Steve - did you ever meet Don Redding in Columbia Falls? He won many competitions growing Dahlia Flowers. I was in his basement one day and saw several plants in the corner of the basement mostly covered in a very dark place. I asked Don, "Don't those plants need light to grow?" and I've never forgotten his response. "If I give them lots of light the plant will grow only a single shallow root. I start them in a dark place because the plant needs to be convinced it is going to die. When the plant is convinced it will die it grows several strong roots and when I transplant the flower outside it will survive any harsh weather that comes." From that time I've had a clearer picture of us as Christians being convinced that without Christ we will die and so it makes me more determined to get rooted and grounded in Him. Then I will be better able to stand in the storms of life.

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    1. I love this, thanks Nigel. Great illustration for teaching on the book of Job or on a theology of suffering. Thanks.

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  4. Steve,
    This is really good and a great way of explaining how God has made each of us for who we are and gives us the right to be the person he wants us to be. It is an excellent explanation on how we can continue to be men / women of God even when things seem to be against us, or if things are not going the way we think they should. God often allows us to experience the death of a ministry in order to take us from where we are to put us in a place where we can grow into the person he wants us to be and in the place he would have us be. Thank you for sharing this!

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    1. Thanks for posting, Ron. Blessings to you.

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  5. Reminds me of one of my very favorite songs called
    One Thing Remains
    Your Love Never Fails,
    Never Gives Up,
    Never Runs out on me...
    Lyrics and music on youtube:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_KXsMCJgBQ
    Thank you for your words of encouragement! Always inspire!

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  6. Nicely done. Love the metaphor with the plant! Blessings on your blogging ministry. (http://dadvotionals.com)

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    1. Thanks. Signed up for your dadvotionals today.

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  7. My dad said today that the plant is not only thriving, it is now blossoming with some wonderful flowers. Cool.

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