I recently shared with my Sunday school class about a childhood memory of picking blackberries with my grandfather. My grandmother could make some delicious desserts and one of those was a homemade blackberry cobbler. One afternoon, my granddaddy asked her if she would make one if he gathered the blackberries. She agreed and I naively offered to go help him pick them. I only half-listened as he warned me about the hazards of picking the berries. I should have listened more carefully, but I did not.
My mind was focused on the cobbler that would be coming. I didn’t realize what I was getting myself into. It didn’t take long to figure it out though. A short while later, I stood with scratches up my arms while I tried to get a thorn out of my hand. I suddenly found myself wondering if this cobbler was going to be worth it. We managed to gather enough berries for the cobbler and headed back home. I cleaned up my scratches and washed up while my grandmother started the cobbler.
The smells soon filling their house made me suspect my trouble and pain had been worth it. The aroma was so lovely and enticing. When I finally bit into that delicious cobbler, I knew it had all been worth it. Dear heart, perhaps you need the reminder today. It’s going to be worth it all in the end. These troubles won’t last forever. There is a joy awaiting us that our minds cannot even imagine. Someday, we will look back and know that all the pain and trouble have been worth it. Until then, dear heart, hold on and keep pressing on. It’s going to be worth it in the end.
Yet what we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory he will reveal to us later. Romans 8:18 – Katrina Douglas
