I tossed an apple in my lunch last week. When I got to work, I put my apple on my desk. I glanced over and my apple looked like the leaning tower of Pisa! It was clear that this fruit had grown around some obstacle on the tree. It didn't stand straight. It wasn't the picture-perfect apple for the teacher. While its color was vibrant and it looked fresh, it seemed to be a forlorn little fruit that didn't look like all the others. I'm sure some might have cast it off as imperfect, but there was something to love about that Malus pumila!
Lunch time arrived and I bit into my sweet treat. This was the most crisp apple I had ever bitten into! Bite after bite make a loud crunchy sound. As I bit into the fruit its juices would drip and spray. My fingers became a sticky mess, but I didn't care - every bite was a bit of apple heaven.
As I got closer to the core I forgot all about Mr Fuji's crooked spine. I lost sight of the fact that this apple wasn't perfect, because it was! And then I got to thinking about how much we are like that sweet, sweet apple.
Many of us (Carmelita and me included) have had to overcome obstacles in our lives. For some of us the obstacles were huge, for others they were just minor bumps in the road. For most, we have had a mixture of the two and everything in between. I can speak for myself when I say that often I am my own biggest obstacle! But my little apple break taught me something that day.
No matter how broken, or damaged, or disfigured we become by life, what we give to the world can still be sweet. In fact, I would argue to say, sweeter! That little apple could have fallen from the tree when it had to grow around something, but it didn't. It continued to grow in spite of a crooked core. It matured and overcame the obstacle to provide me with nourishment (and this blog post!).
As is with us - we could just give up. We could give in to life's difficulties. But it is in the growing around the obstacles (note the key word GROWING), that our lives become sweeter, more crisp and with more to give to the world.
God's word addresses this in Romans 5:3-4:
3Not only so, but we[a] also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4perseverance, character; and character, hope.
What are your obstacles today? How can you persevere and continue to grow in spite of them? What sweet, sweet victory will it be when you do? How much more will you have to offer the world? Sure, your "core" might look like this:
I'm sending Carmelita out for more apples. After her nap.
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