Living in California, I really enjoy my morning runs and evening walks in the nearby Toluca Lake neighborhood. The homes are old and maintained, all with unique styles and their own look. I noticed a few weeks ago as I walked past a dark brown brick house, a yellow speck stood out. As I got closer, I noticed it was a sunflower blooming over the fence.
The ironic thing was there weren't any flowers at all around this blooming sunflower. In fact, it was close to the garage and surrounded by bushes. But it was so pretty and tall and bright that it looked confident--as if it knew it was meant to grow there regardless of what was around it!
I started to relate what I saw to life as a Christ-follower. Often times there are situations God wants us to be part of that we don't want to. There might be people He is nudging you to talk to or invite to church, but we let fear and insecurity hold us back. But I think God wants us to be more like the sunflower and trust where he is planting us. The soil may not be ideal, the surroundings less than comfortable, but all the more glory we can give Him when he blossoms us! If that sunflower had been part of a big flower garden, chances are I wouldn't have noticed it. But because it stood alone among overgrown weeds and brush, it stuck out in the most beautiful way.
God gives us the courage we need to grow against the crowd and to be planted in soil apart from this world. When we trust where He is planting us, we will grow into strong, confident, and peaceful towers of His grace. For weeks that sunflower has bloomed alone. Today when I walked past it, there were five smaller blossoms opening on the same vine! God is calling all of us to step out in faith, to grow where we're planted, and bloom boldly to attract others toward Him.
No comments:
Post a Comment