Weeds to Roses

Don't you sometimes wish you could be something more? Dream of accomplishing something, being famous...just so you aren't only a wisp of mist in the passage of time. Even to be just a blip on the radar of the world for a moment seems better than to never amount to something. But who are we really trying to impress?
If our goal is to meet some worldy objective, we can not flourish in God's garden. We would be a weed - a plant in the wrong place. God has the wonderful and unique ability to transplant us - He can turn a weed into a rose.
Last night at Wednesday Bible study we studied a great couple, Abraham and Sarah. Some of the things we discussed were the tremendous failings of these two people. Yet they are marked down as wonderful examples to follow. They provide a wonderful example of how God can use us in spite of our failings and weaknesses.
God's guiding of us makes me think of playing with an insect. Ever tried to get an insect to walk along a blade of grass, or from hand to hand so it won't crawl up your sleeve? It'll get off the path you want it to walk, and you just have to patiently coax it back where you want it. We frequently get off the path God wants us to walk, we fail in following His will, and He just brings us back.
We fail, God succeeds. We are weak, He is strong. We are the sheep, He is our Shepherd. Out of the ashes, God brings a complete and precious work. We may stumble into the fires of our sins, and yet God works all things together for good to them that love Him, to bring out of that fire a more purified gold. What God has started He will finish -- in spite of us. He still chooses to use us! What a wonderful savior is Jesus our Lord!