Muddy Places

"The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light..." Isaiah 9:2

I love reading books because I meet many people I would otherwise never know. In Stasi Eldredge's book, "becoming myself", she introduces me to her friend. Annie was born with asthma, and was sickly and weak, so she was left alone at home most of the time. Her parents and siblings were all athletic and had busy schedules, and they did not know what to do with her. She was left unprotected for hours and hours, and was sexually abused by a cousin. After all the neglect and being violated, she grew up believing she wasn't worth much. 

When Annie was about thirty years old, she went back to her childhood years and all the pain, the messiness, all the muddy parts. She remembered her loneliness, but she remembered something else as well. She remembered she loved springtime, and how she would put on her boots, and tramp out to the swamp near her house. She loved seeing all the buttercups that came out at the first sign of spring. The thing about these fragile, pale yellow flowers is they only grow in mud. 

Stasi Eldredge wrote: "Annie's childhood was muddy. And honestly, she is one of the most beautiful women I have ever been privileged to know. Beauty for ashes. Praise for despair. The phoenix rises, and Annie has risen too with a faith that is precious and contagious and lovely beyond words. She is Jesus' very own Buttercup."  

 

Our past may be dark, messy and muddy, but we should never lose hope and give in to despair. God is always there. We may not understand why, but we can claim His promises, especially Romans 8:28. Thank You Lord that in all things, You work for our good! 

God can find all the muddy places of our soul and plant a garden.