And that’s not all. We also celebrate in seasons of suffering because we know that when we suffer we develop endurance, which shapes our characters. When our characters are refined, we learn what it means to hope and anticipate God’s goodness. And hope will never fail to satisfy our deepest need because the Holy Spirit that was given to us has flooded our hearts with God’s love.  Romans 5:3-5 The Voice

Perseverance is often pursued with well meaning intention, only to become a distant memory seen in the rearview mirror.  Generally, my perseverance becomes significantly stagnant when it begins to get lost amid other responsibilities.

So… I decided to see what God has to say about perseverance.  Although I’ve studied it before, I was pleasantly surprised with what He revealed to me recently.

God reveals His character and heart through creation in many different ways.  

Today, God met me as I was planting my herbs.  The same way I had to carefully loosen each of the herbs from their original containers and gently transfer them to a new pot, is the very same thing that God is doing in my life.  He is picking me up and placing me into new and challenging seasons, so I won’t become too comfortable in my current pot.  

In the same way my plants can’t stay in the same pot, I can’t always stay in the same season of life.  Gardening has given me the opportunity of being able to plant “seeds”, as God often does in my life and watch those seeds slowly but steadily mature into something beautiful in return. 

What a beautiful reality for us to grasp today.

If gardening has taught me one thing, it's that Romans 5:3-5 in The Voice translation really hits home:

And that’s not all. We also celebrate in seasons of suffering because we know that when we suffer we develop endurance, which shapes our characters. When our characters are refined, we learn what it means to hope and anticipate God’s goodness. And hope will never fail to satisfy our deepest need because the Holy Spirit that was given to us has flooded our hearts with God’s love. 

Lord, thank You for Your creation and the lessons You teach us through it.  May I never become so wilted from Your Words, that I neglect the blessing of a new and exciting opportunity.  In Your Name I pray, Amen.‍