Australian evangelist Christine Caine once said, “Sometimes when you find yourself in a dark place you think you’ve been buried, but you’ve actually been planted.” Boy did she hit the nail on the head with this profund truth.
Undoubtedly, you nor I are completely immune to struggles or hardships in life. And when we experience these difficult times, it can feel like we are trapped in darkness with no hope or escape. The quote above suggests that what feels like being buried in darkness may actually be a seed being planted – ‘an opportunity for growth’.
When we are “in a dark place,” we often feel overwhelmed and unable to see an illuminated path forward. The darkness can feel suffocating, debilitating, and inescapable, as if we have literally been buried alive. Even though it can feel stifling or confining at the time, like we have been “buried,” in reality we’ve actually been “planted” and our difficulties have created fertile ground for professional, familial, and spiritual growth-‘germination’.
Remember that when a seed is planted in soil (darkness) it may not yet see the sunlight, but it contains within it the possibility of sprouting and becoming a bew creation; much like the butterfly that lies dormant in it’s cocoon. Even in our darkest moments, we hold within us the seeds of positive growth and change.
My brothers and sisters, as faithful Christians our eternal perspective on struggles, difficulties, and hardships should always be: “We do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal” (2 Corinthians 4:16–18).
Here’s an idea, in lieu of seeing struggles as a permanent burials, we can choose to see them as an essential planting that allows us to grow stronger. Difficult times strengthen our roots, forcing us to dig deeper within ourselves to fully trust God. And just as a seed must remain in the ground for a time before it can emerge as a new plant and a caterpillar in it’s cocoon, we too must remain in the “dark place” long enough for transformation to occur.
Dark times are an inevitable part of life (John 16:33), but they do not have to mean the end. They can instead signal the beginning of something new, if we remain open to growth during our struggles instead of throwing in the towel. The darkness may be what we need to transform and blossom into a better, stronger version of ourselves.
So, if you are in a dark place and you feel “buried,” remember that you have actually been “planted” – now all you need to do is wait on God’s time, light, water and nutrients for growth.
4GIVEN 