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 that from her. 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 holiday visit she coveted,
called saying she could not come for the holiday. Then 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. 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 could 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."
Just then the shop 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. And she left
with her order. "Uh," stammered Sandra, "that lady just left with, uh....
she just left with no flowers! "Right, said the clerk, "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 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, had
just spent 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 the good things in my life and never questioned the good things
that happened to me, but when bad stuff hit, did I ever ask questions! It took time for me
to learn that dark times are important. I have 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 Special.... 12 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 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. "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?" "Nothing. 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 would like to read it
first."
It read: "My 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 colors of Your
rainbow look much more brilliant." Praise Him for your roses; thank him for your
thorns!
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