I come to sit with You this morning, Father, and I am in need of Your touch. I am weary and slow of mind. Speak to me. Invigorate me. I need You, today.
James 5:10-11 (<<click here)
Lord, You definitely brought a smile to my face! I sit here pondering what You would have me learn from these verses the speak of “patience in suffering” and you toss me an orange!
Oranges are wonderful pieces of fruit. Their color is vibrant – bursting with life. They are intricate in their design. A bitter rind encases segments of fruit that are both tart and sweet. And it doesn’t just taste good, it’s good for you! A refreshing treat to say the least.
So what in the world does an orange have to do with “patience in suffering”? To get to the pleasing beneficial portion You have to get through the bitter portion. I realize the rind can be used in baking but most of us remove it to get to the fruit we cut through it or peel it off.
If you think of it from the orange’s perspective that whole process can’t be pleasant. If we were oranges – removing the rind of our situations would involve a fair amount of suffering. When I peel an orange I like to remove as much of that white membrane under the rind as well. And that takes patience.
Often in life, we go through difficult times. Quite often there is quite a lot of pain and suffering that we must endure – sickness, disease, death, relationship issues, job struggles, persecution for our faith, sometimes things turn out the way we want – other times we are left to pick up the pieces. We may even have to deal with great loss. But as we look back over our lives we don’t necessarily look at our suffering with smiles but on many occasions, we can see the fruit that came from those difficult times.
We are stronger. We are better able to empathize with others going through times of suffering. Hopefully, we have allowed those times to draw us closer to You, Lord. If anyone knows “patience in suffering”, it is You.
Oct 7th, Fri, 6:39 am
