The ongoing saga of the chilli plants continues. Having reaped a rich harvest of chillies from Mummy & Daddy plants, we were not exactly sure what to expect next. Did the plants then wither and die? Would they produce more chillies? Would they flower again next year or were they one-hit-wonders, so to speak? This whole business of growing things successfully is so new to our household that we were a little bemused.
Meanwhile, Runty, our little plant who had appeared to give up on life, continues to grow. From where I sit at the computer, I can clearly see him peeping over the soil box, where once he had been so small as to be invisible from this vantage point. He clearly has a long way to go before he produces chillies, but he is still flourishing, living proof that growth is personal and its rate cannot necessarily be predicted. Quite why this third plant is so slow and small compared to the other two, when all were planted at the same time and have been exposed to the same soil, water and light is beyond me, but I am reminded that individual growth cannot be measured by comparisons against others. We need to rejoice in all individual growth, secure in the fact that it is God who makes us grow and He is in control of all growth.
Then, last week, we noticed new flowers growing on both of the larger plants. It seems that they haven’t given up on producing chillies yet by any means! The buds and then the flowers are the first signs that chillies will soon be on the way again. It seems chilli plants can receive a second wind!
Micah 7:8 says ‘Do not gloat over me, my enemy! Though I have fallen, I will rise. Though I sit in darkness, the Lord will be my light.’ There are many times in life when we fall, when we stumble, when we fail. The temptation at those times is to write ourselves or others off, to remain on the ground, defeated. Sometimes we have fallen because of pride (1 Cor 10:12 reminds us that if we think we’re standing firm, we have to be careful we don’t fall); sometimes sin has tripped us up and we are left wounded and winded on the ground. That is not the whole story, however. God is able to pick us up again and help us to rise. He is the God of second chances… and third and fourth ones too.
If we’re in that place of having fallen, we can declare over despair that Jesus is the hope of the world and we can rise again.
‘No surrender, no retreat.
We are free and we’re redeemed.
We will declare over despair
You are the hope.’ (‘More Than Conquerors’, Rend Collective)