“Only the strong survive.” With a few notable exceptions, this could be my garden motto. I have given away dozens of yellow flag irises this year. It’s not like I want to get rid of them, or that I’m trying or can’t get rid of them, but they’re such a strong and vigorous plant that they just keep multiplying.
They always look marvelous, even when they’re not blooming. The stately, sword-like foliage is a great vertical point of interest toward the back of the border as the summer perennials take over the color show. They grow thick and lush, no matter what soil or moisture they get. They’ll even grow in a pond! They’ve grown behind the white myrtle trees where I once plopped a hunk of their roots until I could figure out what to do with them.
Oh, to be that strong! Other plants may even be stronger and hard to kill — bamboo and houttuynia come to mind. So far I’ve resisted the temptation to plant either of these beauties in the landscape lest they become like the invasive Showy Primrose, which I cannot seem to eradicate. Yeah, that’s a little too strong.
Samson, one of the judges of Israel, was said to be the strongest man who ever lived. As the Bible begins the narrative about him as a judge, it starts off with the relatively smaller task of dispatching a live lion.
“And the Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon him, and he tore the lion apart as one would have torn apart a young goat, though he had nothing in his hand” (Judges 14:6, NKJ).
My very strong husband said he probably couldn’t tear a goat, never mind a lion. Maybe people had to be stronger back in the Bible days! I’m sure if we could afford to eat goats they would be butchered with machinery these days, and not torn apart.
Samson’s superhuman strength was a unique gift from God, however. Our lion-tearing aspirations will just have to be directed into something more attainable, like growing some flowers.
Just because we don’t have the strength of Samson doesn’t mean we are not strong! No matter what our physical capabilities are, we have unlimited strength in a spiritual sense. We need only to tap into it, because our own powers are often woefully inadequate.
Trials of an emotional or spiritual nature are going to shape us by the way handle them. It’s not exactly true that “what doesn’t kill us makes us stronger,” but we do grow and mature by correctly handling these stresses.
“She girds herself with strength,
And strengthens her arms” (Proverbs 31:17).
The source of our strength is key. Anger, frustration, or hatred shouldn’t be the driving force behind our resolve to get something done. We must carefully examine our motives and our goals. When Miriam and the women of Israel saw the hand of the Lord deliver them from Egypt, their song reflected a basic truth; that God is the source of true strength.
The Lord is my strength and song,
And He has become my salvation;
He is my God, and I will praise Him” (Exodus 15:2)