Pollen

My eyes are itching and burning.  My nose is running.  And I am sneezing more often than I would like. It is Spring in Georgia, and the pollen is causing issues for many of us. I took my truck through the carwash recently and I am proud to be able to tell you that it removed the first two layers of pollen. My gray truck is no longer bright green. It is merely a pale yellow.

            Of course, I say this with tongue in cheek, and yet it many of you suffer with allergies during the season, and the cleanup from pollen is no joke.  Still, where would we be without pollen?  I am serious.  We need pollen.

            The trees and flowering plants and vegetables and fruits all need pollen in order to grow and produce as they should.  Without the pollen they would be barren. We would have less beauty, and we just might be hungrier and less healthy.

            Life is filled with pollen. I’m not just talking about the sticky yellow stuff now.  I’m talking about the inconveniences and frustrations that we face in life every day.  The truth is that many of these troubles and trials build character and grow us into the people that God intends for us to be.  None of us enjoy these difficult times. But we are grateful to get to the other side.

            To the church in Thessalonica Paul wrote, “In everything give thanks.” Notice he did not say, “’For’ everything give thanks,” but, “in everything.”  We can be thankful, even in the midst of the challenges of life, because we know that God is at work, even in these, to make and mold us to be all that we can be.

            So, say it with me. “God, thank you for the pollen. Help me patiently to endure, knowing that you are at work all around me for good.”