He is happiest who hath power to gather wisdom from a flower. ~ Mary Howitt
What can we learn from a flower…
One thing we learn is that it starts with a seed.
A seed planted underground where no one can see it.
A dark place.
Every flower must grow through dirt. ~ Laurie Jean Sennott
That’s where it begins to grow into the flower that is already predetermined.
All it needs is the right nutrients, soil, water, and sunlight, and it will grow.
It is a process.
It takes time.
First, the hull of the seed breaks open, unseen.
Roots shoot deep into the soil so that the plant will be stable and fixed and will have a source for nutrients and water.
Next, tiny tendrils appear, reaching upwards toward the sunlight.
In fact, as we know, sunflowers follow the sun, all day long. I like that!
We need to keep our eyes on the Son, too.
All. Day. Long.
As it grows, it needs the same ingredients to keep it growing.
More time passes.
Before there are blooms, there are buds.
Again there is the waiting phase.
And this entire process happens without us really seeing it happen.
Everything starts with a seed—a human being, a tree, a flower, an idea.
We can watch a tree, or a flower bud, very carefully—even for hours—but we will not see it growing.
I’m pointing this out because sometimes we want to give up when we don’t see any progress when actually, if we have been diligent to keep reading our Bible, and we are doing what we see to do there (even imperfectly) and we’re asking God to lead us—we are growing. We just can’t see it right away. But when we look back over a long period of time, THAT is when we see the growth. Or if we ask a friend or spouse if we have changed, they can tell us the ways in which we have grown.
Recently, at my butterfly garden, I was watching two buds on a gardenia bush. They stayed in bud form for so long that I finally came to the conclusion that they would never ever bloom! I thought something was wrong. I even picked at the edges a bit to see if I could figure out if there was anything going on in there.
We all know what would have happened if I had torn it open. It would never have bloomed.
God’s plans, like lilies pure and white, unfold. We must not tear the close-shut leaves apart. Time will reveal the calyxes of gold. ~ Mary Riley Smith (1842-1927)
I didn’t count the days, but there were many. Even my mom had come to the same conclusion. They just weren’t going to bloom.
And then…one day…I walked out to the garden and there was a gorgeous gardenia in full bloom! It wasn’t even a gradual blooming. It was a full, out there, grandstand blooming.
{ Isn’t it beautiful ?? }
This can happen for us, too.
We can feel like we will never get past the bud stage.
We can feel frustrated when we can’t see anything happening!
Sometimes we aren’t even sure our seeds will make it out of the ground—let alone become buds and eventual blooms.
But if we let the process take its course, if we provide the right environment and nutrients, we will bloom.
In us, right now, are the seeds of His purpose for our lives.
We have everything we need to bloom.
So to discover and recognize those seeds of purpose in us, we must first….
Know Him.
Because, He made us.
And makers always have a purpose for what they made.
And they know how they made what they made—they know all the parts and what they are to be used for.
People are looking to “find themselves” and to find their purpose in this life.
Well…we find ourselves in Him.
We find our purpose in Him.
We find our place in Him.
We find our people in Him.
We find our joy in Him.
We find every single thing we need in Him.
It is indeed possible to look at ourselves first without Him as part of the equation.
{ Many people try to do just that. }
They pursue their talents and gifts and passions apart from Him—but, eventually, all those things will always lead to Him—because…He is the source of all things.
He is the Creator of all things.
If people deny the Source, never connect to, or they disconnect from, the Vine (God/Jesus)—they will be empty and lifeless and unsustainable (the dreams and goals—and, ultimately us, too.)
Because He is the Vine—the Giver of all life.
And we are the branches:
“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing” ~ Jesus ( John 15:5)
Our sustenance—our inspiration and purpose and our every breath of life—comes from Him.
So…what we need to do is hang.
Hang on The Vine.
If we spend quality time with Him—waiting, listening, hanging on The Vine—we will naturally and effortlessly bloom and blossom into exactly who He created us to be.
We will be immersed in His Love (He IS Love) and we will then want to share that Love, because Love always gives. Our natural talents and spiritual gifts are the way we express that Love to the hurting world around us—and we get healed and filled and inspired in the process!
I think that most people tend to NOT want to look at themselves and make necessary discoveries and changes, so they stay over-busy—with work, entertainment and numbing mindless activities. This can lead to frustration, unfulfillment, and unhappiness, as a result.
People don’t want to stop and get quiet long enough to hear what they need to hear and see what they need to see—which may require that we quit some activities or relationships, and start some others.
Our fast paced, entertainment and “stuff-acquiring” society seems to be designed to keep us so busy and entangled and exhausted that we can never take the time and energy to stop and look and listen.
So we are going to learn how to hang.
Yes, it is here where you can do some hanging and discovering. You can spend as little or as much time here as you want to.
I have some tests, suggestions, activities, and encouragement you can use to help you begin the process of your own discovery and formation of your authentic and true self—
The one God created you to be.
Not the one our culture wants you to be.
Or who the people around you might want you to be.
The person who GOD created you to be!
You’ve got to be your own person. It’s pretty deadly not to be. ~ Joan Anderson
LINK: What You Will Need For Your Bloomin’ Journey