Thought for the Day 23/06/21 - Ragged Robin

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It was a really dry Spring around here.

By the beginning of June, the grass was at least a month behind in its growth.

And that had a knock-on effect with the native flowers we have on a few of our traditional hay meadows.

We do have a few of these that the botanists get excited about, but one of my real favourites is the old Ragged Robin, and for some reason they took a real beating in the conditions we've had this Spring.

Persevering through adverse conditions

It's a scruffy looking thing in some people's eyes. 

Pink isn't really my colour, either! But there's something about this perky little plant that has always appealed to me, so when it didn't see to be putting in a appearance this year I have to admit I started to get a bit concerned.

Obviously, though, Ragged Robin is a tough little plant, because now ... it has persevered though the dry conditions and we have SEAS of the stuff following the first proper bit of rain to break the prevailing dry spell.

Standing tall

The other species surrounding it have had a head start on it, too, but in response it has put on a spurt of leggy growth and we now see our old friend Ragged Robin, having persevered, standing taller than I think I've ever seen it.

This all put me in mind of our 

Verse for the Day

“And we want each one of you to show the same diligence 

so as to realize the full assurance of hope to the very end, 

so that you may not become sluggish, 

but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.”

‭‭Hebrews‬ ‭6:11-12‬

https://www.bible.com/2016/heb.6.11-12.nrsv

The Point

Strength is so often not the stuff we demonstrate in the day of battle, but in the patient perseverance against the gentle suffocation of adverse circumstances that grind upon us day by day.

We need to show diligence in doing the things we know we need to do to retain our spiritual strength during the droughts and the tough times so as to realise the full assurance of our hope during those times, to the very end.

We need to pay attention to these things so that we do not fall into a torpid sluggishness and lose our vitality and life.

We need to do this conscious that there have been others who have gone before us through the same sort of experience in their own earthly life and pilgrimage but who through THEIR faith and the patience to brings have now inherited the promises of God to His people.

The Takeaway

If today is dry, keep pushing your roots and not your chin, down.

This is what will sustain us through the drought and draw on the life-giving resources we need to persevere into the promises we hold by the Word and authority of our God.