The Blessing Of Thorns
Sandra felt as low as the heels of her shoes as she pushed against a
November gust and the florist shop door. Her life had been easy, like a
spring breeze. Then in the fourth month of her second pregnancy, a minor
automobile accident stole her ease. During this Thanksgiving week she would
have delivered a son. She grieved over her loss.
As if that weren't enough, her husband's company threatened a transfer. Then
her sister, whose annual holiday visit she coveted, called saying she could
not come. What's worse, Sandra's friend infuriated her by suggesting her
grief was a God-given path to maturity that would allow her to empathize
with others who suffer. "She has no idea what I'm feeling," thought Sandra
with a shudder.
"Thanksgiving? Thankful for what?" she wondered aloud. For a careless driver
whose truck was hardly scratched when he rear-ended her? For an airbag that
saved her life but took that of her child? "Good afternoon, can I help you?"
The shop clerk's approach startled her.
"I....I need an arrangement, "stammered Sandra. "For Thanksgiving?
Do you want beautiful but ordinary, or would you like to challenge the day
with a customer favourite I call the Thanksgiving Special?" asked the shop
clerk. "I'm convinced that flowers tell stories," she continued. "Are you
looking for something that conveys 'gratitude' this Thanksgiving?
"Not exactly!" Sandra blurted out. "In the last five months, everything that
could go wrong has gone wrong. " Sandra regretted her outburst, and was
surprised when the shop clerk said, "I have the perfect arrangement for
you." Then the door's small bell rang, and the shop clerk said, "Hi
Barbara...let me get your order." She politely excused herself and walked
toward a small workroom, then quickly reappeared, carrying an arrangement of
greenery, bows, and long-stemmed thorny roses. Except the ends of the rose
stems were neatly snipped...there were no flowers. "Want this in a box?"
asked the clerk. Sandra watched for the customer's response. Was this a
joke? Who would want rose stems with no flowers!?! She waited for laughter,
but neither woman laughed. "Yes, please," Barbara replied with an
appreciative smile. "You'd think after three years of getting the special, I
wouldn't be so moved by its significance, but I can feel it right here, all
over again," she said as she gently tapped her chest.
"Uhh," stammered Sandra, "that lady just left with, uhh... she just left
with no flowers!" "Right...I cut off the flowers. That's the Special... I
call it the Thanksgiving Thorns Bouquet. "Oh, come on, you can't tell me
someone is willing to pay for that?" exclaimed Sandra. "Barbara came into
the shop three years ago feeling very much like you feel today," explained
the clerk. "She thought she had very little to be thankful for. She had lost
her father to cancer, the family business was failing, her son was into
drugs, and she was facing major surgery." "That same year I had lost my
husband, "continued the clerk," and for the first time in my life, I had to
spend the holidays alone. I had no children, no husband, no family nearby,
and too great a debt to allow any travel.
"So what did you do?" asked Sandra. "I learned to be thankful for thorns,"
answered the clerk quietly. "I've always thanked God for good things in life
and never thought to ask Him why those good things happened to me, but when
bad stuff hit, did I ever ask! It took time for me to learn that dark times
are important. I always enjoyed the 'flowers' of life, but it took thorns to
show me the beauty of God's comfort. You know, the Bible says that God
comforts us when we're afflicted, and from His consolation we learn to
comfort others.
"Sandra sucked in her breath as she thought about the very thing her friend
had tried to tell her. "I guess the truth is I don't want comfort. I've lost
a baby and I'm angry with God."
Just then someone else walked in the shop. "Hey, Phil!" shouted the clerk to
the balding, rotund man. "My wife sent me in to get our usual Thanksgiving
arrangement ....twelve thorny, long-stemmed stems!" laughed Phil as the
clerk handed him a tissue-wrapped arrangement from the refrigerator.
"Those are for your wife?" asked Sandra incredulously. "Do you mind me
asking why she wants something that looks like that?
"No...I'm glad you asked," Phil replied. Four years ago my wife and I nearly
divorced. After forty years, we were in a real mess, but with the Lord's
grace and guidance, we slogged through problem after problem. He rescued our
marriage. Jenny here (the clerk) told me she kept a vase of rose stems to
remind her of what she learned from "thorny" times, and that was good enough
for me. I took home some of those stems. My wife and I decided to label each
one for a specific "problem" and give thanks to Him for what that problem
taught us." As Phil paid the clerk, he said to Sandra, "I highly recommend
the Special!" "I don't know if I can be thankful for the thorns in my life."
Sandra said to the clerk. "It's all too... fresh."
"Well," the clerk replied carefully, "my experience has shown me that thorns
make roses more precious. We treasure God's providential care more during
trouble than at any other time. Remember, it was a crown of thorns that
Jesus wore so we might know His love. Don't resent the thorns." Tears rolled
down Sandra's cheeks. For the first time since the accident, she loosened
her grip on resentment. "I'll take those twelve long-stemmed thorns,
please," she managed to choke out. "I hoped you would," said the clerk
gently. "I'll have them ready in a minute." "Thank you. What do I owe you?"
asked Sandra. "Nothing." said the clerk. "Nothing but a promise to allow God
to heal your heart. The first year's arrangement is always on me. "The clerk
smiled and handed a card to Sandra. "I'll attach this card to your
arrangement, but maybe you'd like to read it first."
It read: "Dear God, I have never thanked you for my thorns. I have thanked
you a thousand times for my roses, but never once for my thorns. Teach me
the glory of the cross I bear; teach me the value of my thorns. Show me that
I have climbed closer to you along the path of pain. Show me that, through
my tears, the colours of your rainbow look much more brilliant."
~Author Unknown~
Sandra felt as low as the heels of her shoes as she pushed against a
November gust and the florist shop door. Her life had been easy, like a
spring breeze. Then in the fourth month of her second pregnancy, a minor
automobile accident stole her ease. During this Thanksgiving week she would
have delivered a son. She grieved over her loss.
As if that weren't enough, her husband's company threatened a transfer. Then
her sister, whose annual holiday visit she coveted, called saying she could
not come. What's worse, Sandra's friend infuriated her by suggesting her
grief was a God-given path to maturity that would allow her to empathize
with others who suffer. "She has no idea what I'm feeling," thought Sandra
with a shudder.
"Thanksgiving? Thankful for what?" she wondered aloud. For a careless driver
whose truck was hardly scratched when he rear-ended her? For an airbag that
saved her life but took that of her child? "Good afternoon, can I help you?"
The shop clerk's approach startled her.
"I....I need an arrangement, "stammered Sandra. "For Thanksgiving?
Do you want beautiful but ordinary, or would you like to challenge the day
with a customer favourite I call the Thanksgiving Special?" asked the shop
clerk. "I'm convinced that flowers tell stories," she continued. "Are you
looking for something that conveys 'gratitude' this Thanksgiving?
"Not exactly!" Sandra blurted out. "In the last five months, everything that
could go wrong has gone wrong. " Sandra regretted her outburst, and was
surprised when the shop clerk said, "I have the perfect arrangement for
you." Then the door's small bell rang, and the shop clerk said, "Hi
Barbara...let me get your order." She politely excused herself and walked
toward a small workroom, then quickly reappeared, carrying an arrangement of
greenery, bows, and long-stemmed thorny roses. Except the ends of the rose
stems were neatly snipped...there were no flowers. "Want this in a box?"
asked the clerk. Sandra watched for the customer's response. Was this a
joke? Who would want rose stems with no flowers!?! She waited for laughter,
but neither woman laughed. "Yes, please," Barbara replied with an
appreciative smile. "You'd think after three years of getting the special, I
wouldn't be so moved by its significance, but I can feel it right here, all
over again," she said as she gently tapped her chest.
"Uhh," stammered Sandra, "that lady just left with, uhh... she just left
with no flowers!" "Right...I cut off the flowers. That's the Special... I
call it the Thanksgiving Thorns Bouquet. "Oh, come on, you can't tell me
someone is willing to pay for that?" exclaimed Sandra. "Barbara came into
the shop three years ago feeling very much like you feel today," explained
the clerk. "She thought she had very little to be thankful for. She had lost
her father to cancer, the family business was failing, her son was into
drugs, and she was facing major surgery." "That same year I had lost my
husband, "continued the clerk," and for the first time in my life, I had to
spend the holidays alone. I had no children, no husband, no family nearby,
and too great a debt to allow any travel.
"So what did you do?" asked Sandra. "I learned to be thankful for thorns,"
answered the clerk quietly. "I've always thanked God for good things in life
and never thought to ask Him why those good things happened to me, but when
bad stuff hit, did I ever ask! It took time for me to learn that dark times
are important. I always enjoyed the 'flowers' of life, but it took thorns to
show me the beauty of God's comfort. You know, the Bible says that God
comforts us when we're afflicted, and from His consolation we learn to
comfort others.
"Sandra sucked in her breath as she thought about the very thing her friend
had tried to tell her. "I guess the truth is I don't want comfort. I've lost
a baby and I'm angry with God."
Just then someone else walked in the shop. "Hey, Phil!" shouted the clerk to
the balding, rotund man. "My wife sent me in to get our usual Thanksgiving
arrangement ....twelve thorny, long-stemmed stems!" laughed Phil as the
clerk handed him a tissue-wrapped arrangement from the refrigerator.
"Those are for your wife?" asked Sandra incredulously. "Do you mind me
asking why she wants something that looks like that?
"No...I'm glad you asked," Phil replied. Four years ago my wife and I nearly
divorced. After forty years, we were in a real mess, but with the Lord's
grace and guidance, we slogged through problem after problem. He rescued our
marriage. Jenny here (the clerk) told me she kept a vase of rose stems to
remind her of what she learned from "thorny" times, and that was good enough
for me. I took home some of those stems. My wife and I decided to label each
one for a specific "problem" and give thanks to Him for what that problem
taught us." As Phil paid the clerk, he said to Sandra, "I highly recommend
the Special!" "I don't know if I can be thankful for the thorns in my life."
Sandra said to the clerk. "It's all too... fresh."
"Well," the clerk replied carefully, "my experience has shown me that thorns
make roses more precious. We treasure God's providential care more during
trouble than at any other time. Remember, it was a crown of thorns that
Jesus wore so we might know His love. Don't resent the thorns." Tears rolled
down Sandra's cheeks. For the first time since the accident, she loosened
her grip on resentment. "I'll take those twelve long-stemmed thorns,
please," she managed to choke out. "I hoped you would," said the clerk
gently. "I'll have them ready in a minute." "Thank you. What do I owe you?"
asked Sandra. "Nothing." said the clerk. "Nothing but a promise to allow God
to heal your heart. The first year's arrangement is always on me. "The clerk
smiled and handed a card to Sandra. "I'll attach this card to your
arrangement, but maybe you'd like to read it first."
It read: "Dear God, I have never thanked you for my thorns. I have thanked
you a thousand times for my roses, but never once for my thorns. Teach me
the glory of the cross I bear; teach me the value of my thorns. Show me that
I have climbed closer to you along the path of pain. Show me that, through
my tears, the colours of your rainbow look much more brilliant."
~Author Unknown~
