BLOOMING

Have you ever heard the phrase, “Bloom where you are planted”? Well, this tree really demonstrates that principle.

I’ve noticed this tree for the past 10 years. Every fall, I wonder whether the tree will die over the winter due to its cruel confinement. But every spring, out pop this year’s leaves. Somehow, that tree triumphs over its prison every single year!

It gives a great example that I should be following. A Christian classic, Hinds’ Feet on High Places by Hannah Hurnard, describes the fear & misery of the primary character, Much-Afraid. Much-Afraid breaks away from her family (the Fearings) to follow the Shepherd to the High Places. Along the way, she finds a small flower blooming in a cave. The flower is called “Acceptance With Joy.” This tiny flower was dropped in the cave as a seed -- it had done nothing to deserve its sunless existence, but it bloomed forth with all its strength. For much of Much-Afraid’s subsequent journey, she was reminded of the lesson of that flower, blooming in the dark of a cave, which helped her to overcome the obstacles she encountered before ascending to the High Places.

Personally, I’m going thru a very challenging time in my life. Many things are at risk due to circumstances beyond my control. Sometimes it feels as if I’m at war. Sometimes I break down & cry because of the stress of my situation.

But God’s Word contains many passages that bring me comfort & help me to overcome the stress & worry that I confront daily.

“I have been young & now I am old, but I have never seen the righteous forsaken, or his descendants begging bread.” [Psalm 37:25]

If you’re like me, & have been fighting a battle in some area of your life, or dealing with trials & adversity, remember the example of the tree above. Against all odds, that tree grows. It has chosen to thrive in its prison & make the very best of its situation.

I leave you with a poem that has always given me comfort. This poem was written by Madame Jeanne Marie Guyon while she was locked in the Bastille in France for opposing the sinful behavior of King Louis XIV’s court. This poem, & the imprisoned tree, challenge me to strive to be more than I am:

A little bird I am,

Shut from the fields of air,

And in my cage I sit and sing

To Him who placed me there;

Well pleased a prisoner to be,

Because, my God, it pleaseth Thee.

Nought have I else to do,

I sing the whole day long;

And He whom most I love to please

Doth listen to my song;

He caught and bound my wandering wing;

But still He bends to hear me sing.

My cage confines me round;

Abroad I cannot fly;

But though my wing is closely bound,

My heart's at liberty;

For prison walls cannot control

The flight, the freedom of the soul.

O it is good to soar

These bolts and bars above!

To Him whose purpose I adore,

Whose providence I love;

And in Thy mighty will to find

The joy, the freedom of the mind.

~Madame Guyon (1648-1717)