Crowded!

Well, I guess this is the week for learning and lessons and illustrations..........

A few weeks ago I transferred my desert rose to a larger pot because it was looking so healthy and growing so beautifully. I just knew that the larger pot would give those stretching roots additional room and it would surely take over the patio in a matter of weeks.

When I went to water it a few days later, every blooming, growing part of the plant had fallen off! I attributed it to the shock of being re-potted and waited. Days later, three little frail leaves (of the sickly sort) finally began to push out of the barren stem. There have been no more of the strong pink flowers that were covering the plant when I transferred it.

This week-end, as I ran through Home Depot, I passed a fabulous desert rose in their patio area. My tennis shoes screeched to a halt allowing me a moment to ponder just why this one was so incredibly healthy while the recipient of all my careful T.L.C. was so pitiful looking. The Home Depot rose was still crammed in the original pot which it had obviously outgrown; roots poking out and appearing almost disfigured with so little soil to cover them.

Then it hit me - these plants do better when root-bound!

What I thought was helping my exquisite rose was actually hindering its growth. My intention was to make growth easier; the pot was roomier and full of additional nutrients. Unfortunately, the rose was getting too much stimulation and was unable to produce anything beautiful because its growth was diverted to the roots.

How can it be that crowding and "discomfort" are actually the best for a plant? (See the illustration? Smile.) So often I want my life to be roomy and comfortable. But God sees that "best" for me right now involves some serious discomfort; crowding; even what may appear to me as - disfiguring.

He knows that in this condition, the greatest beauty will burst forth!

So, if you find yourself pinched, crushed, seriously uncomfortable - don't be too quick to ask for a relocation assignment. Perhaps this is a place that will actually cause the most amazing beauty to spring forth from your life!

Ah, the lessons of God.