Part one of this blog was written last Tuesday. The Lord had advised me to find the flowers in the midst of the dump we were assigned to for ministry.
Part Two picks up a week later. Throughout the week, He not only challenged me to find the flowers, but to find and redefine what is good.
I thought of a flower again. I pictured myself picking off the petals, whimsically saying, “He loves me, He loves me not.”
I thought about what I thank the Lord for, what I praise Him for…Have I defined the “He loves me” petals as: beds, showers, coffee treats, ice-cream, getting off work early, volleyball courts…and then the “He loves me not” petals as: labor under the sun, bug bites, dirtiness, smelliness, etc? Ugh.
But He IS love. And He IS good.
If I removed what I labeled as “He loves me not” petals, the flower would be incomplete. Even His discipline is because He loves. Our lacking and our weakness only make room for His love. Hardship draws us to His love. He wants us refined. He wants us to be able to contain His glory. He is always out for our good.
Wednesday morning, I read Matthew 6:28-33:
“Consider the lilies of the field and learn thoroughly how they grow…Even Solomon in all his magnificence was not arrayed as one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field…will He not much more surely clothe you? But seek first of all His Kingdom and His righteousness…” (28,29,30,33-Amplified)
He surely cannot just be talking about clothes.
I met people this week that loved the Lord and lived in the dump, and were not dressed as Solomon. Many would have argued and could potentially be frustrated with God for not getting them out of such a place.
But God never says He’ll take us out of a hard place. He never guarantees that the hardships won’t come. There are many things that we get to partake in as part of our inheritance, but the right to an easy road, to clean clothes, warm showers, a bathroom with walls, food without flies riding it nearly up to your mouth…are not necessarily part of the deal.
He does say He’ll be with us. And He does clothe us. Not as the world would demand…certainly not as the ‘What Not to Wear’ ladies would doll you up in.
But He most definitely clothes us.
“Clothe yourselves therefore, as God’s chosen ones, who are purified and holy and well-beloved by God by putting on behavior marked by tender-hearted mercy, kind feeling, a lowly opinion of yourselves, gentle ways, patience (which is tireless and has power to endure whatever comes with good temper)…be gentle…even as the Lord has freely forgiven you, so you must also forgive…and above all these, PUT ON LOVE and enfold yourselves with the bond of perfectness which binds everything together.” Colossians 3:12-14
So, this is what I’m learning. I’d love to say that I learned this in a week…but it’s still being mulled around in my brain and being worked out in my heart.
I’m looking for the flowers though. I’m looking for a new version of good. I don’t want to be defined by the actual clothes I put on, but by the traits of the One whose image I’m longing to bear. I want eyes to see that in others as well.
So, Lord, in the journey of seeking Your Kingdom, show me the flowers.
