I know what you’re thinking. Bret Michaels right? Every rose has a thorn. Roller skating parties and what not. I bet you’re running through the lyrics right now, perhaps even in dramatic fashion:
“We both lie silently still
In the dead of the night
Although we both lie close together
We feel miles apart inside
Was it something I said or something I did?
Did my words not come out right?
Though I tried not to hurt you, though I tried
But I guess that's why they say”
And then that epic, epic chorus:
"Every rose has its thorn
Just like every night has its dawn
Just like every cowboy sings a sad, sad song
Every rose has its thorn, yeah, it does"
As epic as that song is, I assure you that this shenanigan has nothing to do with Bret Michaels or his amazing lyrical prowess in writing the most epic song in the history of the world. However, it does have something to do with roses and thorns and what not. Actually, it has to do with a quote that has been attributed to Abraham Lincoln, but who knows if Lincoln really said it.
Maybe it came from some Asian kid who just slapped his words on a picture of Abraham
Lincoln and put it on Pinterest, and thus we have the immortalized words of Chen, through the spirit of Abraham Lincoln. Either way, they have been attributed to Lincoln so that’s what I’m going with. Anyway, Lincoln said,
“We can complain because rose bushes have thorns, or rejoice because thorn bushes have roses.”
Okay, it does sound a little bit like a fortune cookie but there is a ton of wisdom there and I find it very helpful for the season of life that I’m in and I hope you will as well. Obviously Lincoln, or perhaps his Asian comrade aren’t simply talking about flowers. There is a much broader application. We can look at the exact same situation or circumstance and rejoice or complain. I hate to admit it, but there are times, more times than I care to admit, where I have complained about the situation instead of rejoiced in it.
Of course, given the choice between complaining or rejoicing we know we should rejoice ten out of ten times. Paul says, “Rejoice in the Lord always;” and just in case we weren’t paying attention he says it again, “again, I will say, rejoice” (Philippians 4:4). And he tells the Thessalonians, “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you” (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18).
Now, this doesn’t mean that situations and circumstances can’t be genuinely crappy. Rose
bushes indeed have thorns and they do draw blood. The solution to this problem and the secret to rejoicing isn’t to ignore that things that legitimately suck, or to pretend like they don’t suck. There are tragedies and injustices that happen every day. Or, just on a much smaller scale, there are setbacks and inconveniences that happen almost every day that can very easily throw you off or put you in a grumbling stink. We’re so prone to complain that we forget the roses and think all of life is just thorns.
You could be having the best day, and have one thing go wrong, and all of a sudden you’re
having the worst day, perhaps even the worst day of your life. Okay, I’m exaggerating a little bit, but we often act like it. We are prone to err in one of two directions. Either, we complain and grumble – not cool. Or, because we know complaining and grumbling are bad we pretend like things aren’t that bad, or we come up with some trite, superficial Christian saying, or we take a verse out of context and apply it to our situation. We do this, because we think this is what we’re supposed to do, and because we want to look super holy in front of our Christian friends. We should avoid erring to the right or the left.
We ought not complain, but not every lament is complaint. There is a very real place for
lamentation. We have the book of Job, we have the book of Psalms, we have the book of
Ecclesiastes, and yep, we have the book of Lamentations. Even Jesus cried out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Not all lamentation is complaint and not all complaint is lamentation, and we should be able to distinguish between the two.
We would do well to not minimize the suffering or the suck of life. When we become trite and overly pious, with other people’s sufferings, (always with other people’s sufferings), what we inevitably end up doing is robbing God of His glory, because we are trying to make sense of things that we don’t understand, and more often than not put ourselves in the place of Jobs friends rubbing salt in an open wound because we love our brother so much. We all know that when someone suffers it provides a golden opportunity for all the pious, grandstanding douchebags to come out of the woodwork to let us know how holy they are. These people are just the worst.
However, when we actually come to terms with reality and embrace the suck, so to speak, we begin the gut wrenching and often, soul terrifying work of seeking and wrestling with God in the whirlwind. It’s here we realize that we are just a kite in a hurricane. It’s here God meets us. In our sadness, in our hurt, in our confusion, in our frustration, in our pain, in our weakness, in our anger, in our bitterness.
The fact of the matter is, until we can rightly acknowledge the reality of the situation and our response to it, we won’t see the tender mercies of God that are new each day. We won’t see His patience with us, we won’t see His kindness towards us, we won’t see His mercy and His grace extended to us through Christ, and we won’t acknowledge His sovereignty over, not only all the affairs of men, but over whatever it is that we are going through at any given moment. Paradoxically, the way down is the way up, and the way to the mountain top is through the valley, and the way to truly appreciate the fragrance and color and beauty of a rose is to acknowledge the thorns.
To pretend like the thorns aren’t there, or like thorns are all there is will both alike rob you of joy. We rejoice in the Lord always, not in all the bad junk that happens in life, but in the one that is sovereign over all of it. The front side of a quilt is beautiful. It’s backside however looks like a mess because we see all the stitching. Our perspective is not God’s and never will be, therefore we need to trust Him that He is making all things new. I’m pretty sure we call this faith. So no matter where you’re at or what you are going through be sure to take your eyes off yourself today and stop and smell the roses. Cheers!
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