Planting Thorns and Thistles

Perseverance and Progress

John Donne understood how easily the human mind drifts even in prayer but Scripture gives a deeper assurance: God’s people persevere, not by their own steadiness, but by His power. Left to ourselves, we wander, lose focus, and drift like sand, but God completes the work He begins and keeps His people to the end. This divine perseverance gives history meaning and direction, countering the pagan idea of endless cycles and aimless change. Because God governs and sustains His people, life and history move toward His purpose, and progress is real not because of man’s constancy, but because of God’s faithfulness.

Perseverance and Progress

John Donne understood how easily the human mind drifts even in prayer but Scripture gives a deeper assurance: God’s people persevere, not by their own steadiness, but by His power. Left to ourselves, we wander, lose focus, and drift like sand, but God completes the work He begins and keeps His people to the end. This divine perseverance gives history meaning and direction, countering the pagan idea of endless cycles and aimless change. Because God governs and sustains His people, life and history move toward His purpose, and progress is real not because of man’s constancy, but because of God’s faithfulness.

Hindsight

Hindsight often masquerades as wisdom, but knowing outcomes is not the same as giving wise counsel before decisions are made. True wisdom doesn’t sneer at past mistakes it learns from them and shapes better judgment for today. Without faith, hindsight becomes arrogance and foresight impossible. Scripture reminds us that God works even our failures for good, overruling what we could not foresee. Real wisdom sees both past and future through God’s sovereign hand, trusting that His purpose prevails in all things.

The Serpent in the Fence

Break God’s fences and you don’t find freedom you find a serpent waiting. Scripture warns that those who tear down God’s boundaries carry judgment inside the act itself, just as surely as a snake hides in a broken hedge. Our age celebrates fence-breaking as liberation, but it only leads to death and ruin. The calling of God’s people isn’t to follow the trespassers, but to repair the fences, proclaim His truth, and live in the joy and peace of obedience. Life is on one side of the fence and death on the other.'

A Word of Rebellion

A common complaint today is: “A good God couldn’t allow that to happen,” as if God must conform to our personal standard of goodness or be judged guilty. Yet the real problem lies not with God but with our rebellious hearts like a spoiled child who screams, “You don’t love me!” when denied his demands. In truth, a world in open rebellion against its Creator is neither safe nor easy; it is a fallen place full of penalties, risks, and suffering. We lock our doors and live with danger precisely because this is not heaven. Scripture gives us our marching orders: we are called to bring every realm into captivity to Christ, until the triumphant day when “the kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever” (Rev. 11:15). Until that glorious victory, the Lord will not let a rebellious world become a comfortable haven for sin. The question remains: are we faithfully meeting our responsibility to our King? #WorldOfRebellion #ChristIsKing #KingdomCome