Blooming Again

1 Peter 5:7 – Live carefree before God; he is most careful with you. (MSG)

Matthew 11:28-30 – Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you'll recover your life. I'll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me — watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won't lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you'll learn to live freely and lightly. (MSG)

A couple of weeks ago, we had some downpours and a bit of hail a few days in a row. My poor petunias looked pretty sick. The beautiful blossoms were all beaten off by the rain and hail. It almost made me cry. I picked off the dead, crushed flowers and threw them away. The flowers have no choice in what happens to them in the flower garden.

Within a couple of days, when the sun was shining warmly, the petunias burst forth once again in my flower garden, in new, full bloom, with every colour of the rainbow. How beautiful they were! As I looked at them, I knew they needed the rain to grow. I also knew they needed the sunshine.

In our lives, when we get rained on and hailed on, it is not our choice either. We may feel like we can't go on any longer or any further. We can't take one more step. If we allow Jesus to come and take the dead flowers away in our lives, He will gladly do that. He wants to take away the self-serving, the pride, the self-sufficiency. Then, if we allow the Son to shine His warmth into our battered hearts, we will bloom again. It won't take long, and Jesus' beauty will be revealed in us. Praise His name!

Prayer: Thank You for the storms in life. Sometimes we get discouraged because it storms so often. We feel like giving up. But we do need to be watered and we do need the Sonshine. Help us, O Lord, we pray. Amen.

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