Reason #91

Thanks to my strenuous work schedule this week, I was able to have the day off today. After an enjoyable lunch with a dear friend, I headed to the store to buy some flowers for my flowerbed. I've already shared my thoughts towards yard work, and I have no green thumb what so ever, so I have three tiny bushes that have survived in my flowerbed, and those little bushes need some flowers to accompany them. I walked up and down the aisles admiring the beautiful flowers and trying to pick out the ones that were "hardy" and "drought resistant." As I was picking through the flower containers, I overheard a couple discussing which flowers they wanted for their garden. As the woman stood admiring the flowers, the man began to sing, "Every rose has its thorn..." And I wasn't sure whether to laugh or thank him for sharing such a profound statement. I began thinking how hilarious it was that we were surrounded by beauty and the one thing that came to his mind was thorns. Not color, not scent... thorns.

And as I continued my flower shopping, I wondered why God decided to put thorns on roses. Why would He allow such a beautiful flower to be covered in painful, prickly, undesirable thorns? Well, I did a little internet research to see what benefit thorns provide for the rose. Of course, you can't believe everything you read on the internet, but here's what I came up with.

Rose prickles are typically sickle-shaped hooks, which aid the rose in hanging onto other vegetation when growing over it. Some species... have densely packed straight spines, probably an adaptation to reduce browsing by animals, but also possibly an adaptation to trap wind-blown sand and so reduce erosion and protect their roots. (Wikipedia)

Answers.yahoo.com posed the question like this, "If life is so fair, why do roses have thorns?" And here are some of the answers given by the readers.

• "Why do roses have thorns? Roses originally grew in area which had large numbers of herbivores, plant eating animals such as cows and rabbits. Rose foliage and flowers are sweet tasting (rose petals can be eaten and a tea can be made out of certain parts of the flower). Many animals seek out sweet tasting plants, so the rose was and instant target. The roses with thorns were less likely to be eaten and therefore survived and reproduced. If the roses didn't have thorns they probably would have been eaten and then there would be no roses for us and THAT wouldn't be fair.The sweetest smelling roses have the worst thorns...its to protect them!"
• "If people see you on the street, they can look at you but cannot touch you. Isn't that fair? So the rose is saying look but do not touch."
• "Have you ever thought that maybe THORNS have ROSES?"
• "To protect themselves. Seems fair for the roses.

So I thought about roses. Regardless of the thorns, roses are beautiful. Because of the thorns, roses must be handled with care. And I wondered how the rose feels about the thorns. Maybe with the thorns, the rose feels safe. After all, on-lookers don't want to be pricked by the thorns, so they admire the rose from a distance. Lean in and smell the rose, gaze upon its beauty, but leave it alone rather than risk drawing blood from their fingertips. The thorns protect the rose. And when the rose is finally plucked from the bush, the plucker scrapes the thorns off. Although the plucker is only doing so to keep their own fingers safe, I wonder if the rose feels the pain of having the thorns scraped from its stem. But the plucker thinks it is doing the rose a favor. Without those thorns, the rose appears more beautiful. But without those thorns, the rose becomes very vulnerable. Being plucked from the bush, stripped of the thorns and placed into a vase of fresh water is actually the first step of the rose's demise. Where will this beauty draw its nutrients from now? A part from the bush, from being attached and covered with thorns, the rose sits in a vase awaiting death, only to be thrown out in a few days by the plucker who put it there.  Maybe those thorns are what the rose needs to ensure its safety, its security, its life. Maybe God really did know what He was doing when He gave the beautiful, sweet smelling flower a thorn covered stem.

And I feel like a rose on the bush. A rose who hates her thorns. A rose who has been crying out to be stripped of her thorns because maybe she would be more beautiful that way. Maybe it wouldn't keep others at a distance. Maybe, if she didn't have those thorns, others might not only stop and smell, but maybe they would even choose her from the bush to take home and admire. Proudly place her in that jar of water and set out for others to see. But maybe those thorns are keeping this rose safe. Safely attached to the bush where she needs to be. From that bush comes her nutrients. She is secure when attached to the bush. A part from the bush, without the thorns, her weakness is made even more apparent. The bush gives her strength, support, life.

And Paul, too, had a thorn (2 Corinthians 12). And the pain of having that thorn, the one that was never removed, only reminded him how desperately he needed God. Because of that thorn, he witnessed first hand that God's grace really is sufficient. God isn't intimidated by thorns. In fact, He allowed thorns to pierce the brow of His one and only son. He isn't hindered by thorns or afraid to touch the places covered by them. He's the one who places the thorns, putting them there for our protection. He uses those thorns to draw us to Him. And He uses those thorns, that's right, our thorns, to draw others to Him.

So I thank Him for the thorns, for having a plan and purpose for every thorn, and for leaving them there as reminders of His sufficient grace, His perfect power, and His protective love.

#91 - Thorns.

"Three different times I begged the Lord to take it away. Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me."- 2 Corinthians 12:8-9

 And here's a picture of my finished flowerbed. Tiny plants with much possibility (if I can remember to water them). Thanks for your help, mom!