Move beyond the rot

My granddaughter, Olivia, and I went to pick strawberries today. The red berries hung heavy on the vines, ready for easy picking (so I thought). As I grabbed the first berry, my fingers sank into it. Smelly goo dripped off my hand.

Inspecting the mass of red berries, I found that although they looked great from the top, almost all of them were rotten on the bottom. After quickly scanning the first row, I wanted to quit, to go home. There were no good berries left in the patch. But intrepid Olivia convinced me to keep looking. We searched among the rot to find the good berries, and we worked hard, but the berries were there.

The blazing South Carolina sun and all of the rain we have had the past couple of weeks destroyed the fragile berries. Satan is master at imitating the blazing sun and sending rot-producing rain into our lives. But hidden beneath all the crud, there are still red ripe strawberries.

There have been times when I couldn’t find joy. Everything in my life seemed “spoiled.” It took effort and much prayer to find the good strawberries in my life. But joy was there, and is still there, even though some days the oozing rot pushes to overwhelm me.

What are you struggling with? Whatever it is, I can guarantee you Satan placed it there hoping you would give up. Don’t give up. Keep looking beyond the problems until you find the peace God wants you to have. Like today, when I needed help to keep from quitting my search for berries, you may need the help of scripture and prayer. Or a Godly friend. We were never expected to pick berries alone.

Work to move whatever is stopping you from finding peace. God does not want us to eat rot, but to enjoy the sweetness of His true fruit. Satan reigns on planet Earth so the rot will be with us, but God is Master of All!

Hunt for those good berries! Regina