Song Of Solomon 2:12 “The flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing of birds is come, and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land; “

Hello readers, I was going through my old photos on my phone recently trying to get rid of stuff I don’t need to free up space! That in and of itself is a message, but I came across some photos I’ve taken in the last year which I took specifically to write about, I used one the other day about storms on the radar… but this one is of a flower.

This flower, I believe, is called a “Flanders poppy”, they are very quick to emerge in spring, and as soon as we start to feel a little bit of warmth in the air as we emerge from winter, suddenly you see these. I’ve intentionally sowed them as part of seed mixes over time in specific areas because they’re great for attracting good insects that help to control bad insects which in turn helps my vegetable garden.

But it’s incredible when you see these, like a photo really doesn’t do them justice, they are such a brilliant red, and it’s amazing how in spring suddenly the colours start coming out. But I remember looking at this poppy, and also some of the other flowers, and thinking regardless of whether I’m here or not it’s going to do that. If I wasn’t there, it would still be blooming.

That might not sound profound, and it probably isn’t, but did you know that if this flower was growing in the desert or forest where no person would ever see it… yet it would still bloom it’s little heart out! So really, it’s not doing it for me. It’s not doing it because of me. It’s doing it because God made it to do that, and it’s giving glory to God.

We can get so self centric and look at this world in how it suits me, how it serves me, how it relates to me, it’s all about me and forget that it’s not our legacy being written, it’s Christ’s legacy, it’s Christ’s story. I get to be in his book, and my name is in the Lamb’s book of life.

But I just remember being struck by this thought, because it’s not blooming for me, it’s blooming for God… but I can appreciate, enjoy and partake in it. But that flower doesn’t need my validation or appreciation to bloom, because it’s still going to bloom because that’s the way God has made it, and it knows it’s time and season. But do we? And will we?

Hopefully we are all blooming for God, and you know what, even if nobody else notices or appreciates… God does, and so do it to him. But if nobody else notices, if you don’t have the audience… will you still bloom? Maybe your life feels so insignificant, unnoticed, underappreciated… maybe you feel like all those little details are lost in time. Was it wasted? Was honouring Jesus Christ in your life wasted?

But nothing is lost with Jesus Christ… not a fragment as he said in John 6. What an amazing truth… no fragment of our lives in his hands are lost. God cares about the details. Look at the detail of his book. And there’s something so comforting about the fact that God cares about details, like think about what Jesus said about God caring for the sparrows, if God cares for a sparrow, how much for us… o ye of little faith!

One of the toughest things I believe that we struggle with is doubting God’s goodness, and does he really… really care for me. Like we can say he does, and tell others he does… but do we believe it in our hearts. If I’m going to be honest, I have a battle with that. The Bible says “Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.” but it’s hard to do that, because deep down we have trust issues. It seems illogical to not trust in God’s character, but why do we not give our lives to Christ? It’s because we don’t trust our life in his hands… while all the time underneath are the everlasting arms.

Do you really doubt deep down about what a life in God’s hand looks like. Could he really be trusted with decisions for your life? But think about how Satan truly got into Eve’s head. He made Eve doubt the intentions and character and motivations and goodness of God, when he said “for God doth know” to her. She knew what God said, but she didn’t trust God in her heart. We can know everything the Bible says, yet it not do one thing for our heart. So can we truly trust God? But we cannot bloom as this flower for God in our short time of life if we don’t truly believe that he cares for us “The husbandman that laboureth must be first partaker of the fruits”.

But back on topic, hopefully like this flower we bloom for God regardless of others. You shouldn’t need others to do right. You’re meant to do right because it’s right. You’re not meant to follow Christ because of someone else, to meet someone else’s expectations, to perform up to someone else’s standard, to fulfill someone else’s vision for your life. Whatever it is, so much of our Christianity is based on others, rather than truly based on a relationship with God for ourselves. Ask yourself, and me myself, If nobody was ever going to appreciate you… would you still bloom? Or is your Christianity a performance, about impressing others? And if there’s no audience… you don’t bloom!

So it was quite profound to me anyway, to see this flower and realize it’s going to bloom regardless of whether I appreciate and enjoy it or not. I was glad I got to enjoy it, because God has given us all things richly to enjoy, but that flower obeys God first. Hopefully your little life, it doesn’t matter how small or what place it is in, hopefully it is blooming for God, to God’s glory. And you know what, every so often someone will appreciate it. I did this flower. But even if you never get the validation, know that with Jesus, no fragment is lost. Nothing is wasted, nothing slips through the fingers of his hands, so his hands and the everlasting arms underneath are truly the place to be.

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