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Saturday, January 4

Ditches

We all dig our own ditches every now and then, or find ourselves in a ditch. It's when we've come to the end of ourselves, find ourselves at a low point in our life.
You're stuck in the bottom of a dark valley. You're alone, in pain or suffering, despair or resentment. You're struggling, with some weakness in your life, or just going through a difficult time.
It's a deep ditch, a pit we've fallen into, a hole we've dug or a hill we've slipped on.
Or, maybe, you've been following God your whole life and He's just---caused a heartache in your life, torn a great hole in your heart or stripped away many of your comforts and safeties in life.
And what we're struggling most with is, "why?"

Praise God for your ditches: He uses them to grow us.

A ditch is an impression in the ground. Something may have had to been torn out for the ditch to appear.
A precious flower may have been dug out of your heart, leaving a gaping hole.
Something had to be removed to leave an indent in the earth.

But from that ditch, from that hole in the soil of the ground, God is growing you.
A seed of repentance...a word of forgiveness...a glimmer of hope...is planted. In the midst of your pitfalls, you are rained upon with the Truth of God's Holy Word. His water washes over you, filling you up and giving you life. The ditch becomes a foundation for your roots in Christ.
Foul-smelling, unwelcome refuse is piled on you; your spirit is weighed down with the oppression of sin. But over time you become, in Christ, stronger, firmer, and more beautiful because of it. The stinky, rotten stuff of life you have to go through is causing you to be strengthened and built up in Christ.

Lives fragrant with the Love of Christ, flowers blossoming with the light of His countenance, and hearts softened to the Word of His Truth, are grown from the ditches in our life.  

Maybe there are some things in your life that need to be worked out. Maybe some healing needs to take place in the gym room upstairs. You know, muscles have to be torn in order to grow stronger.
Maybe God needs to tear your heart a little to grow you stronger.

Praise God for the dark valleys. Praise God for your ditches.







1 comment:

  1. Such beautiful words you've written here. There is great truth. the hard times make us stronger. God uses all these bad things we go through for His glory. I know I wouldnt be who I am today if not for my ditches. I hated them at the time, but now I have learned to rejoice in them.
    lovely, lovely post:)
    and your blog is also very lovely as well. God bless!

    princessfaithm.blogspot.com

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