Greenhouse of Grace

“We know that the whole creation has been groaning together…And not only the creation, but we ourselves…groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.” Romans 8:22-23

I’ve always believed that God made the nature of teenagers so frustrating and exasperating that parents would not be heartbroken when they went off to college. Some might say there was even an eagerness to move them into the dorms. The season that leads up to the ‘bird leaving the nest’ many times is laced with things that cause us to groan and sigh! This groaning makes the separation a little easier. Oh sure, I missed them when they left but the inference is that there were certainly things I didn't miss. That is how I express my feelings about leaving this world one day.

Being on earth and navigating through tough and troubling times can certainly place ‘groans and sighs’ in our hearts as we await our guaranteed perfect home of Heaven. In Charles Spurgeon's eloquent expression of the Christian life, he wrote about Christians needing the greenhouse of grace to remain alive in this world. He went on to describe us as a tropical bird that is made for the warm and sultry climate of Heaven, but is released in the wintry skies of Earth instead. I imagine that the greenhouse of grace has walls of protection, but windows where we can see the dangerous elements surrounding us. It is filled with the warm breath of God protecting us from the cold. Within the greenhouse the warmth of the Light surrounds us and illuminates our path to guide us. He waters us with His mercy and grace when the soil of our heart becomes dry and hollow. Many Christians are living in these dry and hollow times in their present circumstances. But we have an everlasting hope and promise of things to come. New beginnings …fresh revelations…healed hearts.

‘For this fulfillment the believing heart is panting, groaning, and sighing. A Christian’s experience is like a rainbow, made up of drops of the griefs of Earth and the beams of the happiness of Heaven. He is sometimes in the light and sometimes in the dark…We groan within ourselves. Our sighs are sacred things…We keep our longings to our Lord, and to our Lord alone.’ We Shall See God, Randy Alcorn, p. 15