Checkmate
Spiritual food with Jess – February 21, 2026
God gave me the song “Rose Garden” by Lynn Anderson.
I hadn’t heard it since I was a 9 year old girl being driven to primary school by my mum.
The lyrics began playing in my mind, and instinctively I asked God,
“Why am I hearing this?”
That’s when He brought to my heart the prayers so many people have offered up, prayers for an easier life, free from sickness, challenges, trials and daily struggles. Prayers I’ve often sought after myself.
The song’s lyrics warn that life is not perfect, and that love, though beautiful, comes with challenges. As I played the song on my phone, it deeply resonated with me.
The famous line about a rose garden having thorns reminded me that joy and struggle in life are inseparable. When the narrator says,
“I could promise you things like big diamond rings, but you don’t find roses growin’ on stalks of clover,”
it simply means this: what is truly precious isn’t found in what is easy or polished, but in what requires endurance and vulnerability. Kind of like a refiner’s fire moment. You don’t get the rose without the thorns. And no gift, whether material or emotional, can change the fact that life will still be hard sometimes.
It felt as though God was giving me the same message: blessings and gifts do not remove the trials of life, as Scripture reminds us in 1 Timothy 6:17–19 and Ecclesiastes 5:10.
As the lyrics ran through my mind line by line, my heart reflected on a deeper truth that real growth, character, and dependence on Him come through struggle, not ease. A life without challenges would never reveal the depth of His glory or the strength of our faith.
John 16:33 says,
“In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”
The thorns of life are not punishments; they are the soil in which perseverance, wisdom, and God’s greatness shine, as James 1:2–4 teaches us.
God could make life perfectly easy, but it wouldn’t accomplish what needs to be formed within us. It is in facing hardship, enduring difficulty, and walking faithfully through the thorns that His power and love become evident. Comfort alone cannot teach us what hardship reveals, nor can it fully display the depth of His glory.
Romans 12:12 encourages us:
“Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.”
Rose Garden is more than just a song. It is a reminder that life’s beauty and trials are woven together. God is present not only in the roses, but also in the thorns and through both, His love, guidance, and greatness shine brighter than anything we could imagine. Comfort can be kind, but it’s not formative.
Hardship is where faith learns how to breathe.
As 1 Corinthians 13:4–7 tells us,
“Love always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.”
True love, whether from God or others, is not measured by ease, but by faith that endures through hardship. In our weakness, His glory appears.
My heart is humble enough to laugh and quietly say, “So true.”
Every desire I had for an easy life, free from sickness and struggle, has been met with a deeper truth: life’s beauty, growth, and God’s glory shine brightest through the thorns. Gifts and comfort alone can never teach what hardship reveals.
I believe we just got checkmated by God. And yes — checkmate.
Not the kind where you’re trapped.
The kind where the game finally makes sense.
Where you see the board the way the Master always has.
Still standing.
Still faithful.
Still hopeful.
Still loving.
That’s not loss.
That’s victory…through thorns.
Jess