[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"\u002Farticles\u002Fgrow-around-it":3,"\u002Farticles\u002Fgrow-around-it-surround":58},{"id":4,"title":5,"author":6,"bibleBooks":8,"body":11,"columnName":40,"date":41,"description":17,"extension":42,"image":43,"meta":44,"minRead":45,"navigation":46,"path":47,"postType":48,"publication":49,"publicationUrl":43,"seo":50,"stem":51,"topics":52,"__hash__":57},"blog\u002Farticles\u002Fgrow-around-it.md","Grow Around It",{"name":7},"Dave Faust",[9,10],"Hebrews","Romans",{"type":12,"value":13,"toc":36},"minimark",[14,18,21,24,27,30,33],[15,16,17],"p",{},"Fence-building and fence-mending were common jobs on the farm where I grew up in southern Ohio. Our family owned Holstein dairy cows, Angus steers, and Yorkshire hogs, but despite their dignified-sounding names it often seemed the animals' main goal in life was to prove the axiom that the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence.",[15,19,20],{},"It was a never-ending challenge to keep our cunning critters inside their proper boundaries. Determined to win the battle, Dad bought large rolls of sturdy wire fence. Every 15 feet or so we would dig a hole in the ground, insert a wooden post and pack dirt around it; then we would unroll the wire fence, stretch it, and fasten it to the posts. Usually we added a long strand of barbed wire across the top of the fence as well.",[15,22,23],{},"Today no livestock roam those fields, and most of the fences have been removed. Alongside the few that still remain, wildflowers, blackberries, and honeysuckle vines intertwine with thistles, poison ivy, and tall trees.",[15,25,26],{},"Here and there the old rusty fence appears to pass right through the center of a tree trunk. It's a strange-looking sight—a fence magically inserted through the trunk of a maple with its bark tucked neatly around the wire. There's a simple explanation. Over the years, as the sapling bumped into the unyielding fence, it managed to grow around the obstacle. In a peculiar alliance of metal and wood, the tree itself became a fence post, with the fence running through the middle of it. Encountering a barrier that would not yield, the tree simply grew around it.",[15,28,29],{},"Of course, you and I also encounter barriers that will not yield. Some fences God forcefully removes, crumbling them to the ground like the walls of Jericho. Sometimes he parts the waters of tribulation so his people can pass through as they did at the Red Sea. Other barriers, though, God allows to remain. A lingering illness refuses to respond to the strongest medicine or the most fervent prayer. A family problem festers despite your best efforts to resolve it. An influential person opposes every positive effort to move the church forward. Like the videotape of a bad movie, painful memories replay in our minds and preserve the pain of the past.",[15,31,32],{},"This side of Heaven, some hurts don't go away. They are emotional barbed wires that pierce our hearts every time we try to climb over them. Without God's healing grace, they become bitter roots that \"cause trouble and defile many\" (Hebrews 12:15). Or, by faith we can choose to keep growing in spite of our troubles and discover that \"suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope\" (Romans 5:3, 4). The Lord didn't remove Paul's thorn in the flesh, but gave him grace to go on in spite of the thorn.",[15,34,35],{},"So don't let a stubborn fence stop you from becoming what Christ has called you to be. If you can't get over it, grow around it and trust that someday God will tear it down.",{"title":37,"searchDepth":38,"depth":38,"links":39},"",2,[],"First Look","2002-07-28","md",null,{},3,true,"\u002Farticles\u002Fgrow-around-it","column","The Lookout",{"title":5,"description":17},"articles\u002Fgrow-around-it",[53,54,55,56],"Biblical Theology","Perseverance in Suffering","Spiritual Formation","Church Leadership","1EJWlNirHcL2vJqVCv7D0O88gZQ7lj2nUjErFgfu9bU",[59,64],{"title":60,"path":61,"stem":62,"description":63,"children":-1},"Gritty Gratitude","\u002Farticles\u002Fgritty-gratitude","articles\u002Fgritty-gratitude","Money management deals with hard numbers. Spread sheets. Profit to loss ratios. Cost of living increases. Tax rates, interest rates, and inflation rates. Stocks, bonds, and real estate investments.",{"title":65,"path":66,"stem":67,"description":68,"children":-1},"Growing as a Giver","\u002Farticles\u002Fgrowing-as-a-giver","articles\u002Fgrowing-as-a-giver","\"But just as you excel in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in complete earnestness and in your love for us—see that you also excel in this grace of giving\" (2 Corinthians 8:7)."]