Regional Synod of Canada - Reformed Church in America

Pioneer Christian Monthly

Date - May/82

Contributor - Janet Koolhaas

Title - Flowers

Topic - Creation

Flowers. How they lift our spirits! Flowers are like silent trumpets heralding the arrival of spring, warmth and sunshine. They elicit in us a feeling of newness and rebirth as we realize that winter is past once again. Flowers bring to mind a myriad of thoughts, hopes and memories. To this day, every time I smell a rose I am immediately transported back to my grandmother's house on the farm in Kansas where the whole side of her house was covered with roses ' the summer. Just one whiff of a rose and I am there. What kind of feelings do you have about certain flowers? Are you reminded of where you used to live, that first corsage from someone special, your wedding day or perhaps the funeral or a loved one?

I would like you to think with me about three little lessons that flowers teach us.

While preparing this devotion, I happened to look up and on the wall right in front of me was a poster that said, "Bloom where you are planted". What does that phrase mean? "Bloom where you are planted". For me it is a very powerful phrase, and let me tell you why. Ever since I can remember I have always been a person who said things like: "I'll sure be glad when summer comes and I won't have to go to school", or "I just can't wait until I am old enough to get a job and earn my own money", or "If only I could just move to another town and get away from all the problems here, then I would be truly happy". Any of those sound familiar?

When you go out in the spring to plant your garden, do you ask the flowers where they would prefer to be planted? Of course not. You decide where you want them and that's where you put them. Wouldn't it be incredible if one day you were out walking through your flower garden, and you heard a faint little voice from a scraggly little plant say, "If you could just move me over to the other side of the garden, then I would bloom". Or, "It's not my fault that I don't have any beautiful blossom!; get rid of that thorny rose bush over there, and then I might bloom".

As Christians, we are called upon to be God's person wherever we are and in whatever circumstances we might find ourselves, however disagreeable or unpleasant those circumstances may seem. If we think that we would be happier somewhere else or with a new set of friends, we only deceive ourselves. Emerson said, "If you would find the beautiful, you must carry it within you". If we are feeling ugly inside, a change of scenery will not guarantee a change of heart. Paul said in Philippians ". . . I have learned, in whatever state I am, to be content.... In any and all circumstances I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and want. I can do all things in him who strengthens me".

The second lesson that we can learn from the flowers concerns the soil in which they grow. In order for any plant to grow, it must come into intimate contact with the soil. The soil is the source of nourishment and strength for the plant. Without the soil, the plant will wither and die. Again, wouldn't it be incredible to plant a rose bush in your garden one day and come back the next to find that it had removed itself from the soil and was lying out on the pavement? How many times do we do the same thing. God has planted us in His garden of love, and yet because the things of this world seem more appealing to us, we uproot ourselves from the rich soil of God's love and wander away only to find ourselves on the pavement somewhere withered, brown and parched. If only we could resist the temptation to seek nourishment elsewhere. Paul's prayer for the Ephesian Christians was, "May your roots go down deep into the soil of God's marvelous love. I pray that Christ will be more and more at home in your hearts, living within you as you trust in Him".

The third lesson came to me from a Weight Watcher poster that I used to have on the front of my refrigerator. The poster read, "All the flowers of all the tomorrows are in the seeds of today". What a profound thought! And yet how simple. "All the flowers of all the tomorrows are in the seeds of today." In other words, no good thing can happen in the future unless we plant the seeds of it in the present. As a mother, I realize that it is my responsibility to plant and water the seeds of God's love in the hearts of my children, if I am to have hope of their growing up to be God's persons as well.

The seeds of many flowers of the future are present in this room here today. Who knows how God may use any one of us tomorrow? But God cannot use us tomorrow unless we are rooted and grounded in His will and in His love today.

As flowers in God's garden may our roots go down deep into the soil of God's love so that we may bloom where we are planted and produce the seeds of faith, hope and love that will blossom in future generations.

Dear Lord,

Help each of us to realize our potential in the garden where each of us has been planted and to be content and fruitful in the situation where we find ourselves. Help us to bloom radiantly, proclaiming your love and your salvation to a world that is withered and lying parched on the pavement of sin.

Thank you for revealing yourself to us.

In Christ's name we pray. Amen.

Please click the "Back" button of your browser to return to previous page.