It Takes More than Lemons to Make Lemonade

5 Feb 2010

"When life hands you lemons, make lemonade!" Well, that's just a dandy idea, if "life" happens to hand you a half kilo of sugar, a large pitcher, a few dozen ice cubes, and a long stirring stick to boot! Make your lemonade and give me a jingle; it's been years since I've tasted the real stuff.

But what happens when "life," aka Christ--Creator & Giver of life and all things--hands you big ol' sack of lemons? Do you stand there and try to smile with your face screwed up in a lemon-biting grimace? Or do you immediately thank Him, the Giver of all things good, knowing that sometimes what is good for us can be pretty nasty stuff? Perhaps those lemons are meant to grow you--or someone else--spiritually, or to draw you--or someone else--closer to Christ. (My guess is Christ never gives us lemons solely for the benefit of others. Should He do that, we might start blaming all the "bad" things in life on those horrible, less-spiritual-than-me people around us.)

The moral of this story is, "When Christ brings you lemons, thank Him. When Christ brings your neighbor lemons, thank Him, then go to your neighbor with sugar and ice cubes."  It's our duty and a great blessing to help others, after all.