Blooming

Bloom
²⁷ “Consider how the wild flowers grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. ²⁸ If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today, and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, how much more will he clothe you—you of little faith!


OK, boys and girls. Today we are going to have science class. What does it take for flowers to grow. You all know the answer to this. Soil, water, sunlight, and food. Flowers that have plenty of all of these things will be healthy and beautiful. Unfortunately, there are lots of places that do not have plenty of these things. Here in West Texas, we have lots of sunshine, but usually not enough rain. We still get flowers, though. The ones that grow here send deep roots to find the water that is available, or they grow on cacti or succulents that store water. In the rain forest, the tree canopy is so thick that the flowers cannot always get the sunlight they need. The flowers that grow there are sun seekers, even turning on their stems to follow the light. While soil is necessary for flowers, they can adapt. We have all seen flowers growing out of the cracks in the sidewalk or a rocky crevasse, and water lilies can grow with no soil at all. It amazes me when I think about how God has enabled the flowers to flourish in less than ideal circumstances.
You know, God has done the same thing for us. Like the hardy flowers, we exist in less than ideal circumstances. You may be in a job that you would rather not do but you have the integrity to go every day and do your best.  You may have people in your home that are difficult. Maybe, like me, you read those facebook posts about how people are married to their best friend and they are so happy. While you are happy for them, your spouse is being a royal patoot today. Maybe you are still waiting for your royal patoot to show up. Maybe the child that you adore  has broken your heart.  Whatever your inhospitable environment, by the grace of God you can bloom.
Just like flowers need certain conditions to bloom, so do we. First we need contact with God. This comes through prayer and meditation and through the hard work of being still. (Psalms 46:10) We can be so busy (even busy doing God's work) that we don't stop to come into the presence of God. Being still is hard for Western Christians because we don't practice. Second we need the food of the word. (Hebrews 5:12-13) We need gratitude and praise in our lives, which are also not in our nature.  Psalms 35:10 and so many other verses make this clear. Finally we need to let God use the difficult circumstances in our lives as fertilizer, taking the negative things and using them for our good.( Genesis 48, Romans 8:28) 
If we do these things we can be an encouragement to others and a sweet smelling aroma to our Father who adores us.