Have you heard the phrase, “You can’t squeeze blood from a turnip?”
My mom used to say it when I was little. I didn’t know it at the time, but it essentially means that where potential doesn’t exist, none can be realized.
The idiom apparently dates all the way back to Cain & Abel when they presented sacrifices before God. Abel offered an animal from his flock, shedding blood to cover his sin, whereas Cain, offered fruit from the ground. Maybe a turnip? God rejected Cain’s sacrifice because there was there was no blood to atone for his sins.
That’s a huge sidebar, but not really.
What I’ve been pondering is this:
WE can’t squeeze blood from a turnip, but God can!
We can’t spring forth water from solid rock, but God DID! (Ps 114:8)
We can’t make the sea looming before us hurry away, but God can AND did! (Ps 114:3)
We can’t see the way forward, but Jesus gave a man blind from birth the ability to see in the physical AND the spiritual! (Jn 9:38)
We can’t make people see their lack of sight, but Jesus did! (Jn 9:41)
I don’t know what kind of turnip you need squeezing this morning, but may this serve to remind you that there is no squeezing necessary.
Like Abel, offer your sacrifice of thanksgiving & praise even while you lack water, even when the sea looms large before you, even when you can’t see a way forward. We serve a God who has, is & will continue to be our Provider!
Father, thank You for the reminders of Your great faithfulness & of our tremendous need it. When we turn our gaze from things before us, & take a glance back, remembering how You’ve provided in the past, the needs of today become minimized on our screen of life!
Jesus, You are our Source of Peace & Hope when all seems lost. You are the lifter of our gaze, giving us spiritual eyes to see with an eternal perspective!
May the hard things that loom large remind us that we indeed cannot squeeze blood from a turnip, but we serve a Messiah Who freely shed His!
You are the God of the impossible! You conquered death, so we need not cower in fear before the hard things we face. We face You this morning & let our mouths worship The One who turns the rock before us into a pool of Living Water!
1 SAMUEL 20:1-21:15
JOHN 9:1-41
PSALM 113:1-114:8
PROVERBS 15:15-17
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