A good frost

Where we live, we have a few fruit trees in our backyard. We love it!

One of the trees is an orange tree. It's winter. The tree is full of ripe oranges and it looks beautiful. The oranges are juicy but they are still a bit sour. They haven't sweetened up yet.

We have been told that we need a good frost to sweeten the fruit. 

Frosts don't often appear to be good for much besides killing some plants and making a morning commute to work that little bit more frustrating when the car windows are iced up and need some work so you can see to drive. 

However, some have said that when a frost gets the orange tree, the oranges have been among the best they've ever tasted.

It got me thinking... There are times in our lives that we see as bleak and couldn't possibly produce anything good or 'sweet' and yet, just maybe, we are wrong.

I think - I know - that God can use those times to bring about very good things. Sometimes God sweetens our character or our relationship with him through those 'frosts' that occur in some seasons of our lives. God has changed me, drawn me closer to him and shown me his love in ways I may not have experienced had I not gone through seasons of grief, loss, loneliness, financial stresses, relationship strains.

Maybe you're in one of those 'frosty' seasons right now. Would you ask God to show you the sweetness in the midst of it all? I promise you it's there - he's there.

I'm looking forward to the oranges sweetening and sharing the fruit with family and friends. I'm praying that they will also see the sweetness of God at work in my life and maybe want to 'taste and see' him too (Ps 34.8 NLT).