There is just something beautiful about watching something grow and bloom into it’s full potential and recently I got to do that. In early September I bought and planted some sunflowers seeds. I wanted to give them to someone special as a gift, because sunflowers are their favorite flower. When I first planted them, my original intention was to just grow sunflowers and give them as a gift.
It is now November and they have begun to bloom beautifully but looking back on the process, I learnt some spiritual and life lessons that I believe are worth sharing. You may already know some of them, but may this be a timely reminder for you.
They are like trees planted along the riverbank, bearing fruit in each season. Their leaves never wither, and they prosper in all they do. (Psalm 1:3)
Lesson One
Plants need to take root before they can start growing, and so do you.
Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving. (Colossians 2:6-7)
I have grown up around plants my whole life. My mother loves plants and gardening, so coincidentally, I also enjoy it. When I planted these sunflowers I wasn’t unfamiliar with the process, I’ve grown many plants and flowers over the years. Whether you plant from a cutting or plant from a seed, before that plant can begin to heal and/or grow, it has to take root.
Roots are the most important part of a plant. They provide the nutrients needed for growth as well as the stability for the plant to grow up. That’s why you can cut off all the leaves of a plant or cut a tree down to it’s stump and it will grow back most of the time.
The soil and nutrients help the plant with growth and stability. Loose soil makes it harder for the plant to remain stable when the winds pick up. Nutrient poor soil hinders the plants growth because it has nothing to use to grow. In this analogy, you are the sunflower and God’s word is the soil, the nutrients and the water (more about that one later).
We want the “success” that comes with being a Christian; the “good” life. Whatever that looks like to you. But most of us don’t want to put in the work that is needed to do that. We want a best friend relationship with God without the effort but, like ALL relationships, it takes time. Even if you instantly “click” with someone, it will take time for you to learn them deeply. You have to see them go through difficult times and easy times and vice versa for you. With God it is the same thing (more so you going through those ups and downs of life).
You must take root in God before you get to that “successful” life. You must become stable in your relationship with God in order to deal with the blowing winds because the winds of life will blow and they blow much stronger than any hurricane. God is the only one that can hold you down when that happens.
If life doesn’t look how you want it to right now, don’t despair. Go to God, spend time with Him. Not halfway time either, quality time, sincere time. Allow God time to speak back to you. When you pray, take some time to listen to Him. When you read your Bible, look for God, His characteristics and His love.
Take root in Christ so that when the winds blow and seasons change you are not ripped out of the ground.
Lesson Two
Plants need water and so do you.
One of the things I didn’t know when I planted the sunflowers was how much water they needed. Some mornings I would water them but by the time I got home in the evening, the soil would be almost dry. Some days I would forget and when I got home, the leaves were droopy and sad. When I would water them, just after a few minutes I would come back and they would be back up and happy.
Similarly, we get busy with life and forget to go back to our living water source found in Jesus. Life in this world can get difficult for a variety of reasons: your own mistakes, others mistakes, or simply unfortunate circumstances. But in order to navigate those situations and not feel like we are being drained we must constantly be drinking from God.
He is THE source of life for us. He created us and knows what we need and how to give it to us. God doesn’t force Himself on us. He allows you to come to Him whenever you want. With that freedom, some of us wait until we are depleted and ‘in a bad way’ before we go to God. You will survive but you won’t thrive, because we need a constant relationship with Him in order to thrive.
I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. (John 15:5)
In Galatians 5:22-23, Paul tells us the fruit that the Holy Spirit produces but in order for Him to produce it, you need to water the trees He has planted. And to produce in abundance we need to water them regularly by being in fellowship with God.
Lesson Three
Flowers bloom at different times, and so do people.
Pay careful attention to your own work, for then you will get the satisfaction of a job well done, and you won’t need to compare yourself to anyone else. For we are each responsible for our own conduct. (Galatians 6:45)
In the seed pack I got 11 seeds and I planted them all. All 11 germinated, grew, and bloomed, but not at the same time. They all looked different as well.
As humans it is natural for us to compare and contrast ourselves with others. We forget or take for granted what we have and what we have been through. I will not suggest we compare in the other direction either because that can lead to pride. Instead we need to first have a Biblical understanding of who we are and what is our purpose, and secondly an understanding of where we personally want to go.
When I was going to school I was speaking to a classmate of mine about his goals and vision for his life. He told me that he wants to get a job as an accountant, get married, no children, go on vacation twice a year and that’s it. When he told me that I was a bit shocked because I was used to everyone around me wanting to start businesses, working in ground breaking fields and changing the world. I didn’t attack him or shame him, I just inquired more about it. He wanted a simple life. That moment will forever stay with me because it caused me to realize that not everyone has to be on the same path, not everyone has to change the world, someone has to keep the world going. The last I saw of him, he was in a relationship with his high school sweetheart and I am looking forward to him getting married.
God has a special purpose for everyone. Your purpose may be to be an accountant or a nurse or a full time minister. Whatever it is, do it well because you are doing it for God, and not for your boss. No matter how “simple” or “mundane” your purpose may seem, to God it is important for His plans. So again I encourage you to do it well.
Work with enthusiasm, though you were working for the Lord rather than for people. (Ephesians 6:7)
In conclusion, I encourage you to:
Take root in God, water yourself with His word and presence, and be patient, your season of blooming isn’t anyone else’s and vice versa.
What season do you think you are in? Are you being patient with yourself as you grow and bloom into who God created you to be?
Written by Johnathan Rouse (and Photo Credits)
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