Vibrant: A Life of JoySample

The second step that an award-winning gardener takes in preparing the soil for a bumper crop is that he or she will add manure to their future garden. The purest, most organic manner with which to pretreat soil for rapid growth is to add manure. Gardening manuals state that the best soil has a 50/50 mix, which means 50 percent soil and 50 percent manure or compost.

Have you ever had a load of manure dumped on you? I have had it happen to me many times and it is disgusting! Now, I am not talking about actual manure, of course, but times in my life when people gossiped about me, when finances failed me, and when my health was weakened. Initially, a heap of manure dumped upon someone’s life is putrid and vile. However, the long-term experience of being covered in circumstantial manure is only offensive momentarily because as time does its work in the makeup of the manure, a miracle happens.

There are times in all of our lives when the hard stuff prepares us for the great stuff. There are seasons when the situation in life that stinks the most is often what will cause the most beautiful growth. It is vital to remember that it is possible to grow through what you go through.

Just as manure boosts the growth in a garden, it is the difficult people, the rancid events, and the putrid circumstances of life that are able to promote the growth of something splendid in me. I am more loving because of the difficult people, stronger due to rancid events, and lovelier because of putrid circumstances. What the enemy meant for evil in my life has been miraculously used to make me stunningly vibrant!

There are times in life when the darkness surrounds you and the smell reviles you, but at that moment, you must remind yourself that you are not buried; you are planted! When you are covered by darkness, remind yourself that inside of you lies a seed of hope, peace, and joy. When life tries to bury you, allow it to be a growing season of your heart. God does a work in the dark places in life that will not happen anywhere else. God will release a treasure of His character in you that will define your calling and propel you into greatness.