You are planted, not buried...

Sometimes I read things that are so deeply inspirational, I simply have to share the information with someone else...last week, I picked up a Joel Osteen book ("It's Your Time") to read on a plane trip to Atlanta. While browsing through books and magazines, I knew that I wanted something fairly light to read, but encouraging and positive. I have been delighted by the encouragement found in Joel's book, and read something last night that struck a deep chord...

The passage talks about the fact that we all face major challenges in our lives - the loss of a job, a broken relationship, an illness, death of a loved one - and these circumstances could easily bury us in despair. Negative and painful thinking can become overpowering, creating a downward spiral that pulls us ever deeper into feelings of hopelessness. Here's what Joel says about it:

"Yet there is a difference between being buried and being planted. That difference boils down to the expectation of what happens next. When you put a seed in the ground, you don't say, 'I'm burying this seed.' You say, 'I'm planting this seed.' The difference is - when you plant a seed, you expect to see it rise again and come back to life...When you go through tough times, you may feel like you've been buried, but the fact is, you've simply been planted. That means you're coming back. And you're not only coming back, you will come back better, increased, stronger. You go in as a seed, but because of the life of God, you come out blossomed, producing even more fruit."

When life "piles on," and it feels like I'm buried, I have a new perspective from which I can draw encouragement and hope...I'm not buried...I am planted, and it's only a matter of time before I break through with new life and new fruit!