When Life gives you Lemons
These past few weeks have been some of the most surreal I’ve ever experienced. Not long ago, you and I were happily, even nonchalantly, going about our business. We were shopping, working, meeting family and friends, exercising (or not), gathering at church and living our daily lives without any consideration of the 2-metre rule! How bizarre that we now find ourselves doing none of these activities freely – thank you Covid 19.
Our American friends use a phrase – When Life gives you Lemons, make Lemonade. Being from Northern Ireland I grew up hearing it said a little differently, and much less eloquently. Often, when life seemed unfair or challenging and we were tempted to complain or question, you’d be told to, “stap your complainin,” or “stap your whingin!” Looking back, I realise that this simply meant don’t complain, things could be much worse, count your blessings, be positive.
I think if the Bible was being penned today, the American phrase could very well appear in there somewhere, for it is good advice indeed. It encourages a positive attitude when life is not as we would like it. It tells us to take an adverse situation and strive to find something good in it – to turn the sour into the sweet.
A little bit of a story for you - a friend going through a difficult time once told me she was at home looking out at her garden where her husband was digging a hole, for what purpose I don’t know, but it was a rather large hole and was taking much longer and requiring much more effort than he had anticipated. Her husband had taken a well-earned rest and left his spade stuck in the heavy soil. This hole equated with how she felt about her life in that moment, it was hard work and exhausting and was taking a toll on her physically and mentally. But, as she sat there looking at the hole and pondering her life, a butterfly came and landed on the shaft of the spade. She said in that moment she realised that even in the midst of struggle and turmoil, and in those times when you think you can no longer persevere, there’s undeniable beauty.
We find this beauty in the Bible. Many verses speak of troubled times, when life gives us lemons, and of how we should respond as we are never alone.
Isaiah 41:10 instructs us, “So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”
Jeremiah 17:7-8 tells us, “But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in Him. They will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.”
God says, we are never alone. We never need to fear. We can always bear fruit.
I know in the past in those times when I’ve just had enough, I’ve needed to be completely real with God. I’ve needed to tell him that I’m not happy, or I’m feeling despair or disappointment or completely lost in life, and I’ve needed to shout, “Where are you God!” “Where are You in this mess that I’m currently living in?” And as soon as the words have been given voice, I immediately hear that still small voice say, “I’m here.” And I know I’m not alone. And I see the beauty. And the beauty is God.
So, back to the lemons. Life is currently firing at us quite a few lemons, nice and big and bitter and sour…and on a global scale too! It’s something none of us have ever experienced before and it brings uncertainty - when can we go to the shop again and buy THOSE necessities that are currently being stockpiled?! It brings apprehension about our health and the well-being of loved ones. It presents challenges such as a lack of normal routine, having children at home, having a spouse at home…all of the time! Or, we’re confronted by loneliness as suddenly we’ve been forced to be just me myself and I – you’re stuck inside, you can’t go out and you can’t enjoy the much-needed company of others. Where’s the beauty in this situation, how can we sweeten the lemons?
For all of us, I believe we can simply find beauty in the fact that we have blessings that others don’t have. This reminds us that we have a responsibility towards others, and hopefully prompts us into action within our communities and further afield. And suddenly, we are loving and serving each other and our neighbours by asking if they need help. We’re looking at people living on the streets, or in dire situations in other countries, and trying to find ways we can make life easier for them or organisations we can support.
We can also find beauty in the fact that in the midst of this viral pandemic, our neighbours and friends and family members are working on the front line, risking their own wellbeing for the sake of others. Exhausted, and with no respite in sight, they continue to serve and give of themselves for the good of others. That’s beauty.
And there is beauty in our everyday lives that perhaps we’ve all been missing for too long. We’ve slowed down and started to appreciate a much simpler way of life. We waste less. We spend more time focusing on relationships and how we can live better with loved ones, how we might maintain and nurture relationships with others when we can’t meet. We have more time for reading, enjoying our favourite tunes, returning to a hobby we once loved until we became too busy. We enjoy staring out of the window at a quieter world, a cleaner world, a resting world.
But the greatest beauty we can find in all of this is our faith, our saviour, our God. Isn’t it amazing that even in the midst of this global situation, our God is speaking quietly to us, “I’m here.” I like to remind myself that this is no surprise to Him. He always has been, and He always will be, ahead of the game. He’s right with us, His church, encouraging us not to fear or lose hope but instead to find the blessing and share it. He’s calling us to action. He hasn’t stopped working and neither should we. There’ll always be lemons in life, that’s a surety. But, with God, the most bitter lemons can give the sweetest lemonade.