A Life Lesson from Nature

We had a long, hard winter here in the mountains.  It seemed it would never end, but now that it has, we are enjoying a beautiful spring.  The pyracantha bush that I thought was dead is now flourishing, and is even blooming!

The rhododendron are loaded with blooms.  They are prettier this year than they have been at any time since we have lived here.  Yet just a few weeks ago, they looked so pitiful that I had no confidence at all that they would still be alive, much less bloom!

Perhaps plants need to go through these really hard winters in order to flourish in the spring.

There's a lesson for us there.  I really did not enjoy this recent winter, but I am taking great joy and delight in the beauty of spring.  Perhaps we need the hard winters in order to fully blossom in the spring.  Just as the plant experienced the difficult winter and then thrived in spring as a result, we can come out on the other side of our difficult winters with beautiful blossoms as well.

"But He knows the way I take; when He has tried me, I shall come forth as gold." 
(Job 23:10 NASB)