When You Face Trials

By Suzie Eller


"Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance." James 1:2-3 (NIV)

I planted them at the same time. In the same way. With the same tender love and care. Every time I watered one, I watered the other. Everything was the same ... almost.

One red begonia flower was planted between a crepe myrtle tree and a hydrangea bush, tucked under the protection of the sloping roof. The other flower was planted next to the concrete sidewalk and had no shelter from the pounding rain or scorching sun.

At the end of the summer I was surprised by what I saw.

The little flower tucked under the tree and bush, with just the right amount of filtered sunlight and water, had not grown.

Sampaguita in the Street

A woman in rags, cradling a baby, was selling stranded sampaguita flowers in a street of Metro Manila.

Suddenly, a police squad car appeared and the policeman at the wheel shouted at her, “You have been told that it is prohibited to sell your goods in this street! Give me all your sampaguita. Otherwise, I will send you to jail.  Hurry up!”

In a burst of tears, the woman lifted her baby and said, “Sir, if you take all my sampaguita please take my baby also. It is for him that I am trying to earn a living. My baby and I are sick, and I do not have any money to buy medicines. If I cannot sell sampaguita, my son will not survive the cold and the hunger tonight. Please take him with you. He will die anyway with me.”