During month 2 in Cambodia, my team started studying Song of Solomon. I’ve always had a hard time with this book. It was written in a way that made sense to the people at the time, but as far as making it relevant to my life? Well, let’s just say it has been a huge struggle.
As my team began the study, I was having a really hard time understanding all of the comparisons throughout this poetic love story. Then, one of my team mates suggested reading it in The Message Version. I don’t usually do that, but I decided to try it out with this book. It changed my entire experience with Song of Solomon.
Over the past month and a half, the Lord has revealed to me that I really struggle not only with relationships, but also with my own self-image. As a fairly athletic girl, I have never really been the “girly-girl” type. I have never really seen myself as feminine or beautiful. God wants to change my view. It was at chapter 2 that God really grasped my attention.
“I’m just a wildflower picked from the plains of Sharon, a lotus blossom from the valley pools. A lotus blossoming in a swamp of weeds- that’s my dear friend among the girls in the village.” Song of Solomon 2:1-2 (MSG)
In case you didn’t notice, I made the word ‘lotus’ bold. This word stuck out so much to me. Before I became a Christian, in my ‘rebellious’ stage, I got a few tattoos. None of them are really bad and I don’t regret them, but looking back I wish I had a story to go with each of them as to the meaning. One of them I did, but the other 3 I just liked. I have had several people ask me specifically for the meaning for the tattoo on my leg. I don’t have one, but after I became a Christian I wanted to find one. Maybe I could add a verse reference or something to it. But I didn’t know how to make it happen, or what it could possibly have anything to do with the Word of God. What is the tattoo of, you might ask? It’s a lotus flower.
It’s not a regular lotus flower. It’s colored differently, like fire, but it’s a lotus flower none the less. God used this version of this scripture to capture my attention. And He has it now. He used this reference to make Song of Solomon come alive to me in ways it never has before. I felt like He was speaking directly to me! But it doesn’t stop there.
Now I am in Vietnam, the one country out of our route that I never wanted to go to. I had no reasoning, just simply no desire to ever go there. However, the Lord has been changing my heart towards this country. On our first off day, my team and I decided to go to the Sky Deck. It’s this tall skyscraper that has an amazing view of Ho Chi Minh city. It’s a $10 fee to the top, but once you get there, the view is worth it.
As I was walking around the deck, I started to read the information boards about the building, etc. The building was actually inspired by the lotus blossom. It’s a building to represent the dreams and beauty of the Vietnamese people and the lotus is the nation’s flower. The lotus flower in itself represents the open generosity and beauty of the Vietnamese people. They also represent refinement, mystery, contemplation, and cleanliness of the soul. Isn’t that crazy?!?!
There were informative signs on the walls about the lotus flower. It said “Lotus…A pure beauty! A wonderful worth! A noble spirit!” I felt like that sentence was just for me. I felt like God was trying to tell me that I am a pure beauty. That I have a wonderful worth and that I have a noble spirit. These are the areas where I had the most doubt about myself. I doubted that I was beautiful. I doubted my own worth. But my God is a God of restoration and He is restoring my own views of myself. And He’s using the lotus flower to grasp my attention again and again. Lotus flowers are all over Vietnam. Every time I see one, I remember how God sees me; He sees me as beautiful.
***Some other fun facts about the lotus flower: They are highly adaptable and can grow in almost any part of Vietnam. Wherever they grow, they also purify the water in which they live. Every part of the lotus is useful and has a purpose.***
