Spring 2023 has sprung, and from what I understand there is a SUPERBLOOM in the coastal foothills of California this year. In fact, there is so much color that you can see it from space. That’s intense! After a few years of drought, it seems like a miracle, doesn’t it?
True confession. I’m not a green thumb by any stretch of the imagination. I can barely keep a cactus plant alive that is sitting right next to my kitchen sink! But I do love flowers. In fact, the iris flower is my favorite. Its lacy petals, dramatic colors and long stem always make me happy. I think one of the reasons I like the iris flower so much is that it resembles a bloom that was at the top of the pillars in the Temple. Kings 7:22 says, “The capitals on the pillars were shaped like water lilies. And so, the work on the pillars was finished.”
This brief verse of scripture catches my attention me because it describes a process. The artisans who made these flowers on top of the pillars had to imagine and perhaps draw the flower design, gather the materials and most likely in a trial-and-error fashion carry it out. They most likely sculpted and then carved out the design. It’s amazing to think about how God gave them the architectural plans and then assigned them the task of completing it.
Sometimes we struggle in our lives with being in a process, don’t we? We’d like to be finished. Done. Ready to be displayed. But we know that with any project, it takes both patience and persistence for something to turn out the best it can be.
God’s workmanship the apostle Paul reminds us, “Keep your eyes on Jesus, who both began and finished this race we’re in. Study how he did it. Because he never lost sight of where he was headed.” And in Philippians 1:6 he encourages us, “...being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” In Hebrews 12:2 Jesus is described as the author and finisher of our faith. Like a great coach who is instructing his team with the strategies they need to win, Jesus is right here to help us. We can lean into Him. We can trust Him. He has our very best in mind.
Sometimes we get tired and weary from the everyday challenges we face, don’t we? But there’s another verse of scripture that reminds us of when our spiritual roots are being supplied by the life-giving water of the Holy Spirit, we don’t have to worry. Even when we feel the pressures and the ‘heat’ coming from the circumstances pressing around us.
“Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose trust is the LORD. He is like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream, and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green, and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit.” Jeremiah 17:7-8, ESV
This is a great reminder. Even when I am feeling discouraged or feel like I’m in a spiritual drought, the source of my life is Christ. He’s the Master Gardner that can help me blossom into a super bloom!