Rosarians are people who study and grow roses. Those outside the rose world, even your run-of-the-mill gardners, would be shocked to learn just how complex and technical the proper execution of rose-growing has become. We're not just talking about cross-pollination and integrated pest management, here, people. Oh, it goes way beyond a set of shears and a pile of cow manure!
But it doesn't take a rosarian to know what every kindergartner ought: things smell when you squash 'em. Some things smell good, like rose petals. And some things, like stink bugs, smell bad.
In the days before Lysol and Febreze, women used to keep their houses smelling nice with a rose jar, a jar with holes in which rose petals and salt would be placed. The salt would keep the petals from decaying, and over time they would break down and condense into a strongly aromatic mixture that would fill the whole house with long lasting fresh air. Brides would often use the roses from their weddings to get their new homes off to a sweet smelling start.
Isn't the rose jar a microcosm of the spiritual life as God designed it? As life goes along, we encounter pressures and problems that cause pieces of our old sinful self fall off. God mixes them with His grace, and in their breaking down, they become a sweet aroma to the Lord and those around us. In God's design, these petals fall, sometimes of our own volition but more commonly from God's graceful force. It is here that rosarians stumble upon a God-truth: only in the breakdown is a petal's or a person's full aromatic potential fully released. Sounds nice doesn't it? If only that were true of all of us.
As we noted earlier, not all things smell good when they get squashed. Take, for an opposing example, the rose's arch-nemesis, the petal-sucking stink bug. He has these pointy, petal-piercing mouth parts that he sticks into the softest, juiciest part of a plant and sucks from it its life essence. Not surprisingly, stink bugs love roses!
If you think about it, it's truly ironic that stink bugs stink. With all their sucking of rose petal juice, you'd think they'd be called perfume bugs. If that were the case, Chanel would go out of business and that right quick. All a lady would have to do is walk into her rose garden, pull off a bug or two, squash, rub a dab on the neck and wrist, and voila!, instant fragrance! Although one wonders if a true lady wouldn't rather spend a couple hundred dollars to have Chanel do the bug squashin' for her.
Alas, Chanel has nothing to fear from the stink bug. For all his consumption of the sweetest smelling of all substances, he makes out of it the foulest concoction. And isn't that a microcosm of the spiritual experience as many of us live it? When life's pressures and problems squeeze us, we get angry. We get grouchy and grumpy. We act more like a bug than a petal. We get snappy with people at the office; we lash out at our loved ones. We're the Grinch instead of the Holiday Cheermeister. In place of the potpourri of an indomitable spirit we let our troubles and disappointments sour into a stench-filled cesspool of bitterness, despair, and ill-temper.
So where does it all go wrong? Inside of us, to be sure, just like the stink bug. But what can we do about it? How can we change our stink bug ways into rose petal days? You might have guessed that the Bible has something to say on the subject. You see, God's word is so much more than a list of do's and don'ts. It not only tells us what to do (for our own good, by the way) but it also tells us how to do it. The Bible is not merely a how-to manual, but it does contain some quality how-to content. Part of that content tells us how to smell like a rose when life really stinks.
Paul used himself as an example. Writing to the Corinthians, a group of believers that were full of hatred and pride, he emphasized the importance of humble suffering, saying,
"For I think that God has exhibited us apostles as last of all, like men sentenced to death, because we have become a spectacle to the world, to angels, and to men. We are fools for Christ's sake, but you are wise in Christ. We are weak, but you are strong. You are held in honor, but we in disrepute. To the present hour we hunger and thirst, we are poorly dressed and buffeted and homeless, and we labor, working with our own hands. When reviled, we bless; when persecuted, we endure; when slandered, we entreat. We have become, and are still, like the scum of the world, the refuse of all things" (1 Corinthians 4:9-13 ESV).
Paul's wanted the Corinthian believers to understand that the apostles had suffered greatly and had remained true to their God, their faith, and their integrity. He himself states in 1 Cor. 4:2, "It is required of stewards that they be found faithful" (ESV). This is the "do" part; the "don't" is to behave as the Corinthians had, to fight and be filled with puffed-up pride. The "how to" comes from Paul as well, in his letter to the Philippians:
"Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you." (Philippians 4:8-9 ESV)
When it all comes down to it, the difference between a rose bud and a stink bug is where his or her mind dwells. A stink bug mulls over the negatives, turns them over and over in his or her mind, just like a cow chewing cud, each turn more sour than the one before. A rose bud, on the other hand, soaks in the good things, and does so especially in the presence of bad things. But this is not a blind denial that the bad things exist. A rose bud acknowledges reality, but refuses to be broken by it. A rose bud places trust in God, thanks Him for all the good, and praises Him for what the bad can bring, namely strength and endurance.
So, as you walk through this day, keep in mind all the good God has done for you personally. If, God forbid, you get squeezed somehow, you'
But it doesn't take a rosarian to know what every kindergartner ought: things smell when you squash 'em. Some things smell good, like rose petals. And some things, like stink bugs, smell bad.
In the days before Lysol and Febreze, women used to keep their houses smelling nice with a rose jar, a jar with holes in which rose petals and salt would be placed. The salt would keep the petals from decaying, and over time they would break down and condense into a strongly aromatic mixture that would fill the whole house with long lasting fresh air. Brides would often use the roses from their weddings to get their new homes off to a sweet smelling start.
Isn't the rose jar a microcosm of the spiritual life as God designed it? As life goes along, we encounter pressures and problems that cause pieces of our old sinful self fall off. God mixes them with His grace, and in their breaking down, they become a sweet aroma to the Lord and those around us. In God's design, these petals fall, sometimes of our own volition but more commonly from God's graceful force. It is here that rosarians stumble upon a God-truth: only in the breakdown is a petal's or a person's full aromatic potential fully released. Sounds nice doesn't it? If only that were true of all of us.
As we noted earlier, not all things smell good when they get squashed. Take, for an opposing example, the rose's arch-nemesis, the petal-sucking stink bug. He has these pointy, petal-piercing mouth parts that he sticks into the softest, juiciest part of a plant and sucks from it its life essence. Not surprisingly, stink bugs love roses!
If you think about it, it's truly ironic that stink bugs stink. With all their sucking of rose petal juice, you'd think they'd be called perfume bugs. If that were the case, Chanel would go out of business and that right quick. All a lady would have to do is walk into her rose garden, pull off a bug or two, squash, rub a dab on the neck and wrist, and voila!, instant fragrance! Although one wonders if a true lady wouldn't rather spend a couple hundred dollars to have Chanel do the bug squashin' for her.
Alas, Chanel has nothing to fear from the stink bug. For all his consumption of the sweetest smelling of all substances, he makes out of it the foulest concoction. And isn't that a microcosm of the spiritual experience as many of us live it? When life's pressures and problems squeeze us, we get angry. We get grouchy and grumpy. We act more like a bug than a petal. We get snappy with people at the office; we lash out at our loved ones. We're the Grinch instead of the Holiday Cheermeister. In place of the potpourri of an indomitable spirit we let our troubles and disappointments sour into a stench-filled cesspool of bitterness, despair, and ill-temper.
So where does it all go wrong? Inside of us, to be sure, just like the stink bug. But what can we do about it? How can we change our stink bug ways into rose petal days? You might have guessed that the Bible has something to say on the subject. You see, God's word is so much more than a list of do's and don'ts. It not only tells us what to do (for our own good, by the way) but it also tells us how to do it. The Bible is not merely a how-to manual, but it does contain some quality how-to content. Part of that content tells us how to smell like a rose when life really stinks.
Paul used himself as an example. Writing to the Corinthians, a group of believers that were full of hatred and pride, he emphasized the importance of humble suffering, saying,
"For I think that God has exhibited us apostles as last of all, like men sentenced to death, because we have become a spectacle to the world, to angels, and to men. We are fools for Christ's sake, but you are wise in Christ. We are weak, but you are strong. You are held in honor, but we in disrepute. To the present hour we hunger and thirst, we are poorly dressed and buffeted and homeless, and we labor, working with our own hands. When reviled, we bless; when persecuted, we endure; when slandered, we entreat. We have become, and are still, like the scum of the world, the refuse of all things" (1 Corinthians 4:9-13 ESV).
Paul's wanted the Corinthian believers to understand that the apostles had suffered greatly and had remained true to their God, their faith, and their integrity. He himself states in 1 Cor. 4:2, "It is required of stewards that they be found faithful" (ESV). This is the "do" part; the "don't" is to behave as the Corinthians had, to fight and be filled with puffed-up pride. The "how to" comes from Paul as well, in his letter to the Philippians:
"Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you." (Philippians 4:8-9 ESV)
When it all comes down to it, the difference between a rose bud and a stink bug is where his or her mind dwells. A stink bug mulls over the negatives, turns them over and over in his or her mind, just like a cow chewing cud, each turn more sour than the one before. A rose bud, on the other hand, soaks in the good things, and does so especially in the presence of bad things. But this is not a blind denial that the bad things exist. A rose bud acknowledges reality, but refuses to be broken by it. A rose bud places trust in God, thanks Him for all the good, and praises Him for what the bad can bring, namely strength and endurance.
So, as you walk through this day, keep in mind all the good God has done for you personally. If, God forbid, you get squeezed somehow, you'