Hi Friends,
I was looking through some of my old articles and came across this one. Wow, did I need to read this today! Circumstances have gotten rather intense around here ... but God reminds me of what it looks like to rest in Him in ALL things. Maybe this pictures of flowers in France will be an encouragement to you too.
Out of the Flowerbed
It seemed as if I were walking in heaven as I strolled the beautiful gardens outside Château de Chenonceau in France. Bright reds, deep purples, glowing oranges, sunny yellows surrounded me and filled the air with a sweet aroma. Many of the flowers were grown for cutting and placing inside the many rooms of the chateau. I wandered through the neat rows of violas, petunias, roses, lilies, tulips, all perfectly kept, watered, groomed, weeded. Beautiful lavender wisteria draped like a jeweled necklace over ancient out-buildings.
I took a deep breath and paused. Ah, to be a beautiful rose in the garden of the King!
I looked down. And there, right beside all the perfectly tended garden flowers, sprung a bunch of scattered little white blooms that weren’t tended at all. They sprinkled the lawn just outside the flowerbeds. Tiny little daisies with yellow faces, the same ones that popped up along the roadways, in parking lots, and even at my local high school all the way back in California.
They weren’t cultivated, or watered, or placed carefully in the flowerbeds. They just grew. I leaned over and examined the daisies. In the grand gardens of a King’s chateau, these little flowers seemed lost and unappreciated among the larger, fancier varieties. But were they? After all, those flowers needed special care and perfect conditions to bloom. Yet these little daisies, they bloomed and brought beauty everywhere, even in the worst conditions.
It seems that too often in my life, I’ve strived to be like the cultured tulips, the bold wisteria, the elegant lilies. But now, I think I like the humble daisy better.
I want to be able to be my best and give my best and bring joy to those around me no matter the circumstances. I want to thrive in the King’s garden and along the roadside and even when being trampled by teenagers.
In Philippians 4:11-13 (NIV) Paul says, “Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me.”
What is this secret of Paul’s and of the simple daisy? Perhaps it’s found in the word for “strengthens.” In the Greek, that word is literally the prefix “in” followed by the word from which we get our word “dynamite.” God doesn’t just beef up what we already have. Instead, he puts his power, his great, might, dynamite power, in us … no matter where we’re planted, whether we’re well-tended or whether we’re feeling stomped on by careless feet.
So I think about the daisy. I think about how it takes whatever God allows to bring its way; it accepts where God has planted it, and it chooses to be what it was created to be. And God in-powers it. It doesn’t compare itself to the fancier flowers; it doesn’t cry “if only I were there”, or “if only I looked like that.” It does say “if only” at all. Instead, it determines to grow and become who God created it to be, no matter what.
That’s what I want. I want “no matter what.”
And like the daisy, I can get it by choosing God’s power instead of my own. I become who I am meant to be by being in-filled with him instead of with fear. I grow and flourish by knowing that by his power placed within me, I can thrive in any and all situations. And I can bring joy and blessing to everyone passing by.
You can too.
