Rose Garden

My white rose bush bloomed only once this summer, yielding three perfect red roses.  For eight years, it has dutifully produced white roses, but this year it must have decided it had had enough.  It was time for a change.

Sometimes in life, we get thrown a curve ball, something we just weren't expecting.  Like finding a red rose where a white one should be, it may be a beautiful surprise. Or, it might not.  You might walk outside to find that your white roses are covered in some sort of black spotted fungus.

Life is not linear.  Today may look like yesterday, but that doesn't mean tomorrow will bear any resemblance to it. The question is, should I accept only blessings from the Master Gardener's hand? Or, am I willing to trust that His ways are not my ways, that His will is not my will? 

 My response is the important thing. Do I rejoice with the good, but fall apart when I find the...well, not so good? 
 I may plant, fertilize and water rose bushes every day, but that doesn't mean I will always reap what I have sown.  The aphids may still take over and the lady bugs, that I bought to fight them off, may decide to fly off to greener pastures, or, eh, rose bushes. 

So, what is the proper response to life's surprises?  Do I just give up, since I can't really control anything?  Or is all of life just a moment by moment reminder that there's Someone bigger behind the scenes, a Master Gardener with a master plan.  And, if I just keep tending the garden, eventually, I will see His hand.

Perhaps, a red rose blooming on a white rose bush is just His gentle, loving way of saying, "Trust Me, I've got this covered."