The full soul loatheth an honeycomb; but to the hungry soul every bitter thing is sweet. Proverbs 27:7 KJV

In our tiny backyard stands one small lemon tree that my father planted, with a harvest of sweet lemons so large and numerous that they overwhelm us as well as all our neighbors and friends! Now apple trees seem prettier and their fruit sweeter than our lemon, but the humble lemon, with its thorns, teaches about sweetness in a way no apple can hope to match. In today’s verse, we see that same contrast between sweet and bitter things in life. Solomon tells us that there are times when something even as sweet as a honey comb is unappreciated. Just as at harvest time apples become so commonplace that folks just whizz by the orchards on the way to grab fast food for their family. Maybe that is why God chooses to hedge in some of his trees with thorns so that people will learn value of the fruit.

Maybe in your life a thorn of a bitter experience has left a scar on your heart. But God is not through with you nor is He absent from the situation you are in. Your life right now may be filled with thorns just like our little lemon. But God sometimes chooses to guard His sweetest fruit with the longest thorns. He knows every bitter thing we are facing and our past hurts, but He wants us to see that thorns are simply reminders of all He has in store when we hunger for the sweet harvest of what He has chosen in this season of our lives!