Look at the pattern closely. Do you see the thorns?
“Thorns and thistles shall the earth bring forth to thee; but if these bring thee nearer to thy God, they are the best crop the ground can grow.”
—Charles Spurgeon
For those who belong to the Lord, it is promised that hardship, trials and, even our own besetting sins point us to Christ. It is certain that we will face these difficulties post-Fall and they are a means of drawing us near to our Father. What a great contrast they provide! Harsh and painful are they and Christ all the sweeter.
“And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.”
—Romans 8:28
Brambles & Blooms features:
-elegant slightly straightened boatneck neckline
-straight, short sleeves
-natural waist with pull-up nursing access
-single elastic in the back
-maxi length
-made in comfy, cool 95% cotton/5% spandex
-spacious pockets, of course!
A larger excerpt from the sermon containing this quote:
“It is, perhaps, the worst thing that can happen to us to be without any kind of trouble. We do not grow in grace very quickly without trial, and we do not then develop the graces of the Spirit as we do when God sends the thorns and thistles to grow up around us.
Further, dear friends, the knowledge that we may expect the thorns and the thistles should prevent our clinging to this world...
Oh, let my heart be set upon the world to come! Let me cheer my soul with the prospect of being for ever with the Lord, where nothing can distress or annoy my glorified spirit for ever. The Lord does not mean believers to be satisfied with this world. If you are his child, however fair your portion here, he means you to be always restless until you rest in him, and never to be fully satisfied until you wake up in his likeness. Wherefore, be thankful for the thorns and thistles, which keep you from being in love with this world, and becoming an idolater, as so many of your fellow-men are.
Does not the Lord intend by these trials and troubles to bring us to seek after higher things? Brethren, are there not many men, who would have been themselves lost, if they had not lost their all? I talked with one, the other day, who said to me, “I never saw until I lost my eyes.” Another said to me, as I noticed that he had lost a leg, “Ah, sir, it was the loss of that leg that made me think, and brought me to my Saviour’s feet!” Some of you cannot go to heaven with all your possessions, and with all your prosperity. It will be necessary to have these things cut away. You are like a ship that is going down through overloading, and you will have to he unloaded that you may float: and blessed is that hand of God which does unload you of many an earthly joy, that you may find your all in the world to come! Affliction is God’s black dog that he sends after wandering sheep to bring them back to the fold. If that dog is after anyone here to-night, I pray you hie away to the Shepherd. Do not begin fighting the dog, and trying to struggle with him; for you will get nothing by that, but run away to the Shepherd. One of these days you will be glad of all the rough treatment that the black dog gave you in the day of your tribulation. Thorns and thistles shall the earth bring forth to thee; but if these bring thee nearer to thy God, they are the best crop the ground can grow.”
It would be well worth your time to read the whole sermon! Here’s a link ❤️
https://www.spurgeon.org/resource-library/sermons/thorns-and-thistles/#flipbook/
