--- On Wed, 8/20/08, [EMAIL PROTECTED] <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: [worldchangers2010] Fw: [SMCTQ] AWWY #5564 - Crushed Beauty
To:
Date: Wednesday, August 20, 2008, 8:56 AM
A Word With
You
#5564 - Crushed Beauty
2 Corinthians 2 : 14
In the fall I really got
exercise in our yard. We had lots of trees in that yard, and lots
of leaves. Our sons were gone, and I got to do just about all the
raking. There was this one corner of the yard that was kinda nice
to rake because it smelled nice. I'd be raking away and suddenly
I'd smell the strong aroma of spearmint. Now, I don't chew gum and
I don't wear spearmint scented deodorant usually. So, it had to be
coming from what I was raking - and it was! That was my wife's herb
garden, and when some of the spearmint plants got bruised by my rake the
spearmint scent started to fill the air. My wife told me that that's
the way it is with lots of herbs, like with lemon balm, for example. If
you take a little piece of that plant and you crush it between your fingers,
the air will suddenly be sweetened by this scent of lemon. Crushing
a plant releases its scent.
In 2 Corinthians 2, where we get our word for today from the Word of God,
the Apostle Paul has just told about hardships he has suffered, great pressure
he was under, even the despair he'd been feeling. In the context
of a lot of pain and pressure, he says in 2 Corinthians 2:14, "But
thanks be to God who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ
and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of Him."
You see, God wants
to spread to the people around you the experience of the beautiful aroma
of what it's like to have God in your life. How does He release that
scent? Oh, hardships and pressure.
The scent of Jesus in Paul's life was probably never more beautiful
than when it came to what he called his thorn in the flesh - some physical
limitation that he begged God over and over to remove. He called
it a messenger from Satan to torment him. That's in 2 Corinthians chapter
12. But then he comes to terms in that passage with the fact that this
pain is not going to go away. Then he discovers the unexpected, the glorious
result that can be released through his crushing. 2 Corinthians 12:9, "But
God said to me, 'My grace
is sufficient for you for my power is made perfect in weakness.'"
When you can't, there's an opportunity for everyone around you to
see that God can. Paul goes on, "Therefore I will boast all
the more gladly about weaknesses so that Christ's power may rest on me."
When people came in contact with the Apostle Paul they smelled power, they
smelled grace. But it wasn't Paul's power or grace. People
got to experience God's beauty because Paul had been bruised, and the bruising
released the aroma of the love of God. That's what the Lord wants
to do through you. Maybe you've been going through something that
has bruised you or crushed you. If you've allowed yourself to become
bitter, angry, or self-focused because of it there'll be a smell coming
from you - probably like the smell that comes from what my wife used to
call stink weed on the farm, and no one is going to want to be around you.
They'll conclude that Christ doesn't make much of a difference in
the times when we really need the difference made. But
you've probably met, as I have, some precious men and women who were deeply
wounded, totally crushed, and they've surrendered all that pain to the
Savior and they're a joy to be around. They're like walking hope.
The aroma of God is all over them.
Never do we have a greater opportunity to show the people around us the
reality of our Savior than when we are in a time of great hurt. Maybe
like you're in right now. If
it's one of those times for you, open yourself up to a divine take-over
of your feelings and your pain and your personality. You'll find that something
very supernatural, something very beautiful will happen. The crushing
you've experienced will release the incomparable aroma of the grace, and
the love, and the peace of God. The Creator who releases beauty through
a bruised, crushed plant, can surely do it through one of his blood bought
children.
Copyright (c) 2008 by Ron Hutchcraft.
____________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _________
_________ _
CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE
This message (including any attachments) contains information that may
be confidential. Unless you are the intended recipient (or authorized
to receive for the intended recipient), you may not read, print, retain,
use, copy, distribute or disclose to anyone the message or any information
contained in the message. If you have received the message in error,
please advise the sender by reply e-mail, and destroy all copies of the
original message (including any attachments) .
