Toads in the Flowerpot
Springtime in Texas stirs all sorts of life from the earth. As the air warms and wildflowers bloom, the nights begin to echo with the rhythmic trills of toads. They hop through the grass, bask in the soft moonlight, and when the heat of the day returns, they look for a place to hide from the burning sun.
But in Texas, the ground can be unkind. The clay bakes hard beneath the sun, forming a crust that even the most determined toad can’t dig through. Yet here and there—beneath thick shrubs, beside shaded trees, or under patches of soft loam—God has provided places where the soil stays cool and moist. Perfect places, just right for hiding and resting.
Most toads find these spots. But not all.
Some, perhaps the clever ones, spot something different: flowerpots. Lovely, shaded, and full of damp soil, they seem ideal. “What a good hiding place,” the first toad thinks. “No need to go searching—this will do just fine.”
Another toad hops in. Then a third. Then a fourth. Each begins to burrow, kicking out a bit of soil to make room for themselves. Dirt spills over the sides. Day after day, the digging continues. The flowerpot empties.
Within a few days, the soil is gone. The pot is dry. And so are the toads.
They had chosen their own way—what seemed good, easy, and smart. But they hadn’t realized that by following their own instincts, they were slowly destroying the very thing they depended on. The coolness vanished. The protection faded. And the flowerpot, once so promising, became a sun-baked trap.
The Lesson of the Toads
Sometimes, we’re not so different from the flowerpot toads. When life gets hard, and the world feels too hot to handle, we look for quick solutions—comfortable places of our own making. We choose what looks safe, what feels smart, what’s right in front of us. We dig in, convinced it will work.
But when we follow our own design instead of trusting God’s plan, we can end up exhausting the very resources we hoped would sustain us.
God has prepared hiding places for us—quiet spaces of rest, obedience, and trust. They may take a little more searching, a little more waiting, a little more surrender. But they don’t run out. They don’t dry up. They are rooted in His perfect wisdom, not our limited understanding.
“Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.” ( Proverbs 3:5–6 )
So when the sun is hot and life is pressing down, don’t settle for the flowerpot. Let God lead you to the deeper, lasting places of refuge He’s already prepared.