A Rosella Bush Stood in the Way

 

I wanted to share another little story of God’s goodness and protection with you. The Lord has been giving me a lot of short little object lessons of late that just need sharing and I hope what you read will encourage your hearts, despite their brief and simple message.

On the weekend, Dave and I took a few hours off to do a little exploring off road. We had driven around for a few hours, through the long grass, up and down hills, through wash outs, over rocks and through dry creek beds, stopping along the way to fossick around a little and explore old camps and mine sites.

As the daylight was fading, we began to head back towards the highway, endeavouring to take a different track, hoping we could find a short cut back to the main road.

As we drove, we came upon a large plain with long grass where the track disappeared, but trusting Dave’s experience and judgement in these things, I rode in contentment, happy to keep taking photos along the way.

Up ahead, off to the side of the non-existent track, I spied a bright splash of brilliant red in the sunlight. It was a beautiful Rosella bush, with its red fruit in long stems, pointing towards the sky.

Asking Dave to pull over so I could photograph it and pick some Rosellas to take home, I stepped out and as I did, I noticed that the ground ahead and underfoot was a little boggy. We hadn’t encountered any wet ground in all our exploring that day, but after walking on ahead to scout the land, Dave realised we could have found ourselves in a very difficult situation had we kept on in the direction we were heading. We were out of phone reception and in a very remote place.

I’m telling you all this, not just for a storytelling of adventure, but as an awesome display of God’s protection.

I saw this little Rosella bush as a direct sign from God. A warning as it were. Maybe like in Balaam’s case, when the angel of the Lord stood in the way, blocking the path ahead. (Numbers 22:22)

God put that plant there, to catch my eye, so that we would stop and would be alerted to the danger that lay ahead. It was the only Rosella bush in sight across that vast plain.

God works in mysterious and marvellous ways, and it is not beneath him to use a part of his creation in order to get our attention.

Do you ever stop to think about all those times when God’s protecting hand is upon your life? What about those days where everything seems to go ‘wrong’ and you’re late for work? What was God protecting you from? Maybe an accident on the road ahead. Or sometimes, he is just clearing a way for you.

Just this morning as I made a delivery in the truck, I had some issues in getting the freight moved around in the back of the truck and I was so frustrated at the effort I was having to put into it, making me late for other deliveries. But, in the time it took for me to get things sorted and unloaded, God cleared the way ahead of me so that I didn’t have to reverse out of the drive, into a busy car park, and instead I was able to drive straight forward in safety.

So, what do we do with these small moments and reminders of God’s protection? We stop and thank him! We raise our hearts in praise and worship to a God who cares about each little detail in our lives.

God cares about his children so much that he orchestrates little moments that give us pause, that draw our attention to something that he wants us to see.

That Rosella bush in your way could be a warning of something ahead.

Stop and look for the lesson to be learned when God pulls you up. Sometimes he uses a picture of beauty, like my lovely Rosella, and sometimes a moment of frustration, but whatever God chooses to use, make it a point to praise. There’s something to be thankful for in each and every situation and difficult circumstance.

1 Thessalonians 5:18 KJV - In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.

God wants us to give thanks in everything. Not just after everything, but in everything. During the trial. In Hebrews we read about offering a sacrifice of praise.

Hebrews 13:15 KJV - By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name.

Did you know that sometimes our praise is a sacrifice? We don’t FEEL like praising. We don’t FEEL like rejoicing. At these times, it’s a sacrifice to give praise to God. But we decide to forget about how we feel, and we praise him anyway, trusting God and knowing that he will be glorified and honoured by our praise. It has nothing to do with feelings, and all to do with faith!

During difficult times, it takes personal sacrifice to praise God. It is an act of our will to humbly submit to God’s will and trust his heart, even though we can’t follow his hand. Real praise comes from a worshipful heart that worships even through the difficult times.

Our praise is to be offered continually. Not just as some kind of ‘reward’ we give to God for his goodness to us.

A sacrifice is costly and takes effort and on those days we struggle to ‘feel’ the joyfulness inside, we need to offer a sacrifice of praise to God regardless of how we feel but because we know God is in control and He is worthy of all our praise.

Learn to thank God during the good and the bad times. IN everything. Continually. Let your lips bubble over with thankfulness and gratitude to an almighty God. Honour him, humble yourself and watch your faith grow!

Learn from those that have gone before, like Paul and Silas, who praised God despite the circumstance they found themselves in.

Acts 16:25 KJV - And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them.

God will throw things in our way that stops us in our tracks. It may be pleasant, or it may be difficult, but whatever it is, stop, look for the lesson, and make it a point to praise!

Psalm 150:1-6

Praise ye the LORD. Praise God in his sanctuary: praise him in the firmament of his power.

Praise him for his mighty acts: praise him according to his excellent greatness.

Praise him with the sound of the trumpet: praise him with the psaltery and harp.

Praise him with the timbrel and dance: praise him with stringed instruments and organs.

Praise him upon the loud cymbals: praise him upon the high sounding cymbals.

Let every thing that hath breath praise the LORD. Praise ye the LORD.