“And we know that all things work together for good—“ Romans 8:28
We all claim to believe Romans 8:28, but there are times when it does not seem to be true. We often do not see the good that is produced and we wonder if our situation is an exception to the rule. The following story I read several years ago serves to illustrate what sometimes happens:
A young woman, a great lover of flowers, had set out a rare vine at the base of a stone wall. It grew vigorously, but it did not seem to bloom. Day after day she cultivated it and tried every possible way to coax it to bloom.
One morning, as she examined the vine disappointedly, her invalid neighbor called to her and said. “You cannot imagine how much I have been enjoying the blooms of that vine you planted.” The owner followed her neighbor’s gaze and on the other side of the wall was a mass of blooms. The vine had crept through the crevices and produced flowers on the other side.
How often we think our efforts are thrown away because we do not see fruit! We need to learn that in God’s service our prayers, our toil, our crosses are never in vain. They will bear fruit and hearts will receive blessings and joy, sometime, somewhere.
