Flourishing Friday: Bloom Where You are Planted - Denise Pass
by | Feb 19, 2016 | Abuse, Autoimmune Diseases, Believers, blessings, Body of Christ, calling, Chosen, Christian, Christian Encouragement, Comforter, counseling, counselor, Count Your Blessings, Depression, Discipline, Freedom, Gifts, God, Gratitude, heals, Holy Spirit, Humility, Jesus, Jesus Christ, Jewish, Joy, Joyful living, knowing God, Life, Lord, Love, Mental Health, Peer Pressure, Perspective, Philosophy, Positive Thinking, Praise, Prayer, Principles, Promises, Provision, psychology, Purpose, Radical faith, Relationship, Religion, rest, revelation, Salvation, satisfaction, Sovereignty, Spiritual, suffering, Thanksgiving, Theology, Truth, Uncategorized, Victorious Christian Living, wisdom, Worldview, Worship |
Inspirational Thought of the Day:
Bloom where you are planted – others around you need to see you thrive.
Scriptures of the Day:
Isaiah 32:15
“This desolation will continue until new life is poured out on us from heaven. Then the desert will become an orchard and the orchard will be considered a forest.”
Isaiah 35:1
“Let the desert and dry region be happy; let the wilderness rejoice and bloom like a lily! 2 Let it richly bloom; let it rejoice and shout with delight! It is given the grandeur of Lebanon, the splendor of Carmel and Sharon. They will see the grandeur of the LORD, the splendor of our God.”
Ok, I know. I can be corny sometimes, but I like alliteration and every Friday has a different theme in my mind. Today is the beautiful imagery found in the book of Isaiah.
There in the middle of the desert, where there is seemingly no nourishment around, a blossom forms and a lily thrives. Stubbornly it stands, defying all odds. Alone it is a witness that the harsh realities surrounding it have not snuffed out its life.
I enjoy gardening (well, sort of), and truly feel sad when one of my seeds becomes a seedling then fails to survive. Next to another seedling that grew into a might plant, I wonder what the difference was.
Now plants can’t feel, but the analogy to me is beautiful. The word, “Let” strikes me in the above scriptural passage, almost signifying a request or a choice.
When a plant is not thriving, sometimes we can try to transplant it to a more fertile area. The root system can be easily damaged in this procedure and the weak seedling withers. But maybe the answer was to remain. To stay where there is seemingly no support or life and choose to add things to our environment that produce life.
Such a decision requires a choice. Not to depend on those around us for life, but to find it within. Not to allow toxic substances nearby to poison or embitter us, but to choose to feast on God’s truth found in His Word and let that life flow through us, instead.
Sometimes it hardly seems worth the fight. So many around us can want us to fail, but perhaps what they need more than anything is to see us succeed; to see that God is enough.
It is not easy to choose joy and life when faced with the opposite and we can feel foolish to hope, but it is the seed of hope that becomes a reality of a longing fulfilled for those who wait on the LORD.
Lord, thank You for the grace to live an abundant life not dependent on circumstances or provision, but on You alone. Help us to thrive for Your glory.
