In the Hand of God |
In the Hand of God |
![]() Last night I poured my heart out to God and He listened to every word, but I didn’t hear Him. This morning my heart longed for more time with Him, but when you are in the middle of harvest, there isn’t time to sit in the quiet. As I foraged alone for blackberries on our farm, I decided to not listen to music, but to be quiet and invite the Holy Spirit to pick berries with me. At first, I was too discouraged about still seeing the bottom of my basket and I didn’t realize that He was there, but after I decided to just pick whatever I found, I realized that He was there with me. As I traveled from briar to briar, I started to hear Him whisper a lesson that my heart needed to hear. I learned quickly to set the basket down and take notes on my phone in between the briars because I was there to collect more than berries. He was giving me a blog. He started to compare a blackberry briar to my life. Last night I told Him that I felt overwhelmed right now with life and all the things that were beyond my control. Today He showed me a briar that had way more thorns than berries, yet the berries that were there were huge. Life can be just like that blackberry briar. Sometimes there are way more thorns in our lives than there are berries. Sometimes it seems like we are surrounded by circumstances that only seem to be there to pierce us and draw all the life from us. Sometimes it doesn’t seem like it’s worth fighting the briars to get to the berries. Yet, when you push back against the briars to pick the few huge berries, you find that the goodness of even one berry was worth fighting the briars. Sometimes the best things are the ones you have to fight to get to…it’s the ones that are hidden within the briars. Just like sometimes we find that the sweetest times with God are found inside the most painful moments of our lives. Sometimes we must reach between the thorns to find what is good. Sometimes all we can see is pain. Often it feels that He has left us when He is trying to get us to look deeper. I had turned to walk back to the golf cart when He urged me to look back. There deep within the briars and tree limbs was a branch full of huge berries. I hadn’t seen it there before, and yet when He urged me to look again, I could see it. I almost walked away and missed these huge, beautiful berries. How easy it was to miss this treasure because it was hidden among leaves. How many times in my life have I missed a blessing because I failed to look at my circumstances more closely? As I drove along the field in the golf cart, I noticed some beautiful berries, but they were deep within an area with briars, weeds, and undergrowth. I decided to avoid these due to the fact that I was alone and might find a snake or beehive within all the entangled branches and thorns. I started to drive away, but He wouldn’t let me. I realized that I was going to have to be willing to push back the briars and walk into the midst of the mess, not knowing if there were snakes or bees beneath my feet, and only focus on the berries in front of me. As I steadied myself by holding onto the golf cart, I began to smash down the thorns and weeds carefully with my foot. He started to whisper again. This is no different than life. ‘You have to be willing to take the next step, no matter if you can’t see where your foot may land and keep your focus on Me”, He said.” You must trust that I will keep my promises, that I will work it all for your good and My glory.” That is to be our focus. We are to fix our eyes and make Him our focus. We must focus on the good while walking through the thorny bramble. As I reached for my basket, I realized that it was almost full. I wasn’t sure at what point I had finally managed to cover the bottom, but it was almost full. All those briars that only gave me four or five berries at a time had managed to fill the basket to the brim. Again, He whispered for me to think about all the little blessings tucked within the last couple weeks. Although my heart felt empty, what would happen if I placed all those blessings within its borders. As He helped bring all the little things to memory, I found that the small handfuls of goodness quickly dispelled the emptiness and filled my heart to almost overflowing, just like the berries in my basket. As I made one final stop to pick, I got my arm entangled with a briar. The slightest movement brought immense pain. As bad as I hated to do so, I knew that I had to remove the briar from its place in my arm, but just beneath my hand hung a briar heavy leaden with huge berries. If I could hold my arm still, it would hold the briar back and allow me to harvest these beautiful berries. So, I chose the be still and used my other hand to pick the berries from their place. Again, I heard Him. Sometimes, even if it is painful, you must firmly hold your position while the thorns pierce deep within to reach for what is good. As I picked the last berry, I sat down the basket so that I could remove the briar from its place in my arm. Sometimes letting go is hard and it hurts, but there are times when we must break free from what holds us even if we bleed. Finally, I came home with a basket full of berries, but I realized I had more than berries. I had reassurance that the God who created the universe had heard the cries of my heart. I didn’t have all the answers for all the requests, but I had one of them. I had asked Him if it was time to lay down my desire to write. There among the blackberries, I found a blog.
2 Comments
Michelle M
7/1/2023 03:49:58 pm
What a beautiful testament to God's nearness and abundance! Thank you for sharing, Michelle!
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Wendy
7/1/2023 06:18:27 pm
I read this as I was eating a bowl of cobbler made from the blackberries I picked earlier today. I will remember your words every time I get to pick blackberries in the future. My cobbler became even sweeter because of the lesson you shared.
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