Encouragement

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Larry Lilly's Letter Thursday August 25, 2005

My dearest friend, Anonymous, wrote the following statement and I assure you that this statement, though short, is long on being good advice, especially if you are one of those rare souls who insist on actually living rather than merely wallowing along behind the norm of your era.

“Every flower must grow through dirt.”

I talked with a man earlier this a.m. who while he was sitting in a chair in my office literally wept as he told me of the 'dirt' 'they' were throwing his way. I asked for some specifics and he is right 'they' are throwing dirt by the truckload. I assured him that the dirt being thrown at him did not bother me. The dirt that is thrown at me bothers me.

In real life it is unheard of for everyone to like you. After all look what 'they' did to Jesus. It is for certain that you and I are not of the caliber of Jesus, yet in our silly imaginations we somehow think that because we love Him and He loves us, we will be exempt from the dirty realities of living.

Keep on dreaming.

It is the lot of those who would be victorious in life, must learn to let dirt perform its function, which is to enhance growth in strength at all levels of life.

Some years ago Dr. Phil Stringer called me at 5:30 in the morning to tell me; "Well Larry, they dumped another load on you today." He was referring to a major newspaper that had made its purpose for being the destruction of yours truly. I admit that period in my life was one of some fear and discouragement. Yet I knew the truth of today's statement and managed through much prayer by my family and others to hang on to the truth that if handled in a Christlike way, dirt is really essential for plants to reach their potential. For a few years I thought I had arrived, but God knew different and He was re-potting me. Enlarging my coasts is the way Jabez put it.

I have lived a fairly long time, much longer than my enemies had hoped and I admit to certain smugness about this. I happen to know the wonderful feeling of being shot at and missed. I also known the pain of being wounded in the spiritual fray, being left for dead and wouldn't you know it, having a resurrection of sorts. This too, is a good feeling.

My little wife, lovingly referred to as The Great Blonde, often takes a flower from the pot to the flower bed to give it more room. She does this while stating, "It needs more dirt to grow."

Jesus does the same thing to His people. So quit whining and reckon the dirt as a growth opportunity, for that is exactly what it is going on in your life.

Larry Lilly Copyright © 2005 Use with credit.

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