A Year of Blessing - March 30, 2010

I warned you about flower blogs in Spring! And here's another. Jacob came out with me to look at the flowers. He is facinated how they come up out of the ground and then grow buds and then flowers. But in his 5 year old understanding he ask me "Mema, what's up with that one?" pointing to the bush on the left. He wanted to know why it didn't have flowers...in essence, what was WRONG with it.

In explaining that some plants take longer to flower than others, I started thinking how time comes into play with plants. They require the right time of year to bloom and grow. The right amount of time growing to produce leaves and buds and blooms. At one moment they look like dead sticks with sallow yellow leaves, then more growth occurs and the leaves are greened, but only at the right time will the flower appear. Not before its time, and not after its time. Only at the RIGHT time.

Looking at Jacob, I can imagine the man he will become...at the right time.

So why is it that I can understand all about timing of plant and people growth, but miss God's spiritual growth timing? I am impatient when it comes to spiritual growth: wanting to bloom with patience before I grow in patience, wanting to bloom with wisdom before I grow in wisdom, wanting to bloom with kindness before I grow in kindness, and on I could go. I expect to be able to spiritually bloom before budding occurs, bud before growth, and grow in the middle of a spiritual winter!

I think it all starts with the seed (duh!). But right beside the seed in importance is the planting. My friend, Terry, uses this illustration at funerals sometimes. The seed must be planted and die before the beauty of the plant and flower are seen. So it is in death. The body is buried in the ground, with the assurance of the resurrection in Christ, to become like Him. But so it is in life right now! The seed of Christ is planted in our earthly body, His Spirit in us, and as we die to self, His Spirit grows from the inside out! To produce the shoot, leaf, bud and bloom of the Spirit, and ultimately the fruit...at just the right time.

So I will continue to keep watering and nurturing His Spirit in me...and quit asking God "What's up with that?"

Galatians 6:7-8 (The Message)

Don't be misled: No one makes a fool of God. What a person plants, he will harvest. The person who plants selfishness, ignoring the needs of others—ignoring God!—harvests a crop of weeds. All he'll have to show for his life is weeds! But the one who plants in response to God, letting God's Spirit do the growth work in him, harvests a crop of real life, eternal life.