Friends
You should see my front porch. It’s covered in blooms and lush greenery! Everything is growing well, but that wasn’t always the story.
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“For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow.”
James 1:3 NLT
Have you ever tried to make something happen, and no matter how hard you tried, it just wouldn’t work out? That’s what happened with the huge black flower pots that flank my front door.
The story on those pots began in 2015. It was the first full summer after my retirement, and I decided to fix up my front porch with new porch furniture and some strategically placed flower pots. Those large black pots looked great against the white trim around my front door and coordinated perfectly with the black shutters that adorn my brick rancher-style house. I planted a mix of six white and pink impatiens in each pot and waited to see what would happen.
I wasn’t disappointed. The plants took off, spilling over the side of the pots, trailing halfway to the floor. They were gorgeous! It was a warm autumn that year, and to my astonishment, I had beautiful blooms in those pots all the way until Thanksgiving. Amazing!
The next summer’s planting yielded similar spectacular results, but when an early November frost zapped my impatiens, I decided to add a dwarf evergreen bush to each pot. I was going for the mini-Christmas tree look with the idea of wrapping the tiny trees with lights for the holidays.
I wasn’t disappointed. The little trees looked cute all lit up for Christmas and offered a nice evergreen for the winter. When summer rolled around, there was no room for impatiens in those black pots, but oh well, I had lots of other pots for planting by then.
But by the next summer, I was disappointed. One of my pretty little trees died, while the other one flourished. If I wanted the pots to match and show off Christmas lights, and of course, I did, then I had to find a mate to fill the empty pot. That’s when the struggle began.
I located a matching, even if smaller, tree for the empty pot, but the next summer, the original tree in the other pot had died. Again, I had to find a new mate, but before that plant got fully established, the other bush died. For six years, I played this round-robin game of revolving miniature Christmas trees. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t get any type of bush to grow in those pots for more than two years. It was maddening, not to mention a blow to my gardener’s ego!
When yet another bush died late last summer, I threw up my hands in defeat. I dug up the living tree in the remaining pot and planted it in my garden. When Christmastime came, I filled the pots with pine cones and ran white lights through them. It worked like a charm, and I wondered why I hadn’t done that sooner. How much time, effort, and money had I spent trying to make something work that clearly wasn’t going to work?
Now I admire persistence, but looking back, I should have known better. I was trying to force something to happen that wasn’t meant to happen. I was trying to control something that was clearly beyond my control.
Sound familiar? Have you spent hours, months, or even years trying to control a situation in your life that ultimately is beyond your control? Are you trying hard to fix things that you are powerless to fix? Are you, like me, stubbornly pushing forward, convinced that if you just try harder, you can somehow make it work?
I don’t give up easily. It’s in my programming to work harder, to regroup and re-try, but the truth is that there are things beyond my control. I can’t fix it all. I can’t solve it all, but I know the One who can, and the sooner I let go, and let God, the better it will be. I’m not in control. God is, and freedom comes when we release the reins of control. The pathway to peace can be found only when we choose to rest in God and trust Him to work it out, in His timing, in His way.
This spring, I bought a mix of white and pink impatiens and planted them in my black pots beside the front door. They did not disappoint. Beautiful blooms now cover the entire pot and are starting to spill over the sides. I smile in amazement at those precious blooms and wonder why in the world I wasted so much time trying to force something to happen that wasn’t meant to be. Perhaps giving up was the right answer after all.
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““Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
Matthew 11:28-30 – NIV
PRAYER
O Forgiving Father God, how we must try Your patience. We clutch so tightly to the reins of control, trying to fix everything, trying to force things to happen. We fail to trust You, and instead, go our own way. Why do we wait so long to turn to You? Forgive our stubbornness, our self-sufficiency, our grappling for control. Help us learn to let go, and let God. For Your yoke is easy, and Your burden is light. May we find rest for our souls.
In the Faithful Name of Jesus, we pray,
Amen
Blessings,
Anita
-APS 8/11/2025
Faith Beyond Sight 