Words by Scott McCullar | Image by Blakeney Clouse
I love a nice, cool, sweet glass of lemonade, don’t you? There’s just something special and refreshing about a cup of lemonade on a hot day.
But for a moment, consider how lemonade is made. You have the sugar and the water, and then you have that poor lemon.
When you make lemonade, you don’t make the lemon comfortable. You don’t protect the lemon at all costs and tell the lemon how perfect and wonderful it is. You don’t hold the lemon close, tell it how amazing it is, and then ask it to produce lemon juice. You cut the lemon, and then you squeeze the lemon. The only way to produce delicious lemonade is to crush the lemon. That’s just the way it is. Some people even chop the lemon into pieces and put a slice in their lemonade.
Would you be shocked if I told you that God draws blessings out of you and for you in a similar way?
I’m afraid many people think God is here to make them happy, protected, and pampered. They expect God to make sure they never have a bad day or a hard season. They believe that God will get the most out of them when He builds them up and tells them how wonderful they are.
The Bible teaches, however, that God will get the most out of you through your hardships, trials, and difficulties. Romans 5:3-4 says, “We also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope.”
In other words, for God to use you to be a blessing to others, you will have to suffer. For God to get the most out of you, it will be through the tough times you face on this earth.
Before you get all depressed, realize this truth: all Christians go to Heaven, where everything will be made right, and all suffering will cease. Remember that this world is not Heaven, and it will never be. But no matter what problems come your way, Jesus will give you strength. He said in John 16:33, “These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world, you will have tribulation, but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.”
One of my heroes in the faith is Corrie ten Boom. Everyone should read her book The Hiding Place. In this remarkable story of her life, she admits she was never strong in her faith until she was arrested by Nazis and placed in a concentration camp for women. In that desperate experience of unbelievable pain and anguish, God used her in amazing ways to impact the people around her with the Gospel.
The name Jeri Key inspires us all in my First Baptist Church Carbon Hill faith family. Jeri lived a regular life as a mail carrier until she was diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer and was told she had six months to live. For over fifteen years beyond that diagnosis, Jeri grew into a pillar of faith and impacted more people than I can list with her passion and love for the Lord. She is in Heaven now and remains the most remarkable woman of faith I have ever met in my entire life.
For God to make lemonade out of your life that will be a blessing to others, you must walk the path of the lemon. It is simply unavoidable in a world that rebels against God and pursues fleshly passions and desires. However, we as Christians can do something that we can never do in Heaven. We can reach lost people with the Good News of Jesus’ perfect life, sacrificial death, and victorious resurrection! God can use our pain, tears, and tribulations to draw someone to salvation in Christ. God can bring them hope out of your hurt as you persevere and love Jesus authentically through your troubles. As you share your faith out of your trials and hardships, God uses your life as a true witness! In fact, this is how God draws people to Himself all over the world through the persecuted church!
In other words, when you feel like God is crushing you like a lemon, know that He is preparing you to be sweet lemonade to bless others and lead them to the only refreshing hope any of us have in this world: Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord, who died and suffered for us. WL
