Many of you will not know this, but my rose trees at home are my pride and joy. I absolutely love them, and I take extremely good care of them. I have three of them at the top of my drive and I get to admire them every time I arrive home. Unfortunately, during the stormy weather we had on the weekend, I lost one… I was absolutely gutted. My pride and joy, gone in a matter of seconds. Sure, I still have two of them left, but without the one in the middle, it looks incomplete. Empty.
In my frustration as I’m out in the rain trying to make sure I don’t lose the other two, I’m complaining to the Lord ‘Why Me Lord?’ (dramatic much). ‘Why did this have to happen to my roses, of all the trees?’. And as I’m in the rain, cold and frustrated, he says to me ‘Not all is lost’. It made me stop, look up and realise that in fact, not everything is lost. I still have two of them. And I kid you not, I stood there in the rain for the next 5 minutes contemplating what he had just said to me. While it was a simple phrase, it really made me stop and think.
It also made me realise how I often I think this about some situations in my life. And not only that, but how often the enemy will use this against me. How easy it is for me to have a minor inconvenience and think everything is over and that there is no point. The Lord reminded me of this verse –
Deuteronomy 31:6 – “Be strong. Take courage. Don’t be intimidated. Don’t give them a second thought because GOD, your God, is striding ahead of you. He’s right there with you. He won’t let you down; he won’t leave you.”
This was a great reminder for me that in fact, everything is not over. One small bump in the road shouldn’t cause me to go completely off track. And that the Lord is in control and everything happens for a reason.
So, I encourage you, next time you encounter a speed bump or a minor inconvenience, Not All Is Lost! The Lord is always with you, and he knows the plans he has for you. Even if it doesn’t make sense!
Jackson