The Bonsai Master

"But the God of all grace ... after you have suffered a little while, he himself will perfect, establish, strengthen and establish you" (1 Peter 5:10).

I like the art of bonsai: I am a simple amateur trying to learn. Every time I work on a sapling I think of God's work in my life. Creating a design, developing a style, cutting branches that don't favor that design, doing it several times. Put wires to the branches to direct them in such a way that the tree acquires the desired shape. Cut off all or part of its leaves, leaving it bare. Prune the roots periodically. Replant it. Put clamps. A job full of patience and hope, among other things!

Sometimes a very leafy and attractive tree must be worked in such a way that only a few branches full of twisted wires remain. The one who works it knows that many times those branches were not convenient, or did not grow in the right direction.

This is how God works with us. He has a wonderful, beautiful design for our lives, but He must "cut, wire; twist, pluck, strip". And then we feel that our "appearance" is not pleasing. We see ourselves ugly, we feel destroyed. We grieve, we ache, and we ask God to help us.

What we don't know is that He is already doing it. He is working on a very special design; doing everything necessary to complete it. And when some time passes, the fruit of suffering, trial and pain bears fruit as the finished work of His hands. We feel strong, we feel that we have grown, we have been perfected! We know our God more and become more like Him. A sweet communion with His Spirit is now our most visible characteristic.

So when you feel tired, disappointed, unwilling to go on, remember that God is working out His wonderful design with you. And the Supreme Master, who began that beautiful work, will undoubtedly finish it!

(José R. Frontado).

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