Each morning as I make our bed, I often lift the shade and check my little bed of flowers beneath the window. One morning as I lifted the shade, I glanced out and discovered the leaves on my beautiful Hibiscus plant destroyed. A nasty little critter had obviously found joy in feasting on the leaves of my beautiful plant. I felt pity as I scanned her; she looked so beaten up, and, well…. even a little ugly. I was heartsick over her destruction until my eyes looked up. That’s when I noticed the buds; she still had buds! In fact, she displayed several buds of many different sizes, and some were bursting, ready to bloom. I was so relieved that I said, “Ha! Take that you leaf-eating-bugs! You may have gotten to the leaves and enjoyed them, but you did not destroy the beauty of the bloom. I am still going to enjoy her big, beautiful flowers.” That is precisely what happened—after a few days the first bud unwrapped, and the beauty was revealed. The flowers would still bloom regardless of the condition of the leaves.
Hmmm…. fancy that; the condition of the leaves hadn’t stopped the flowers from blooming. Can you imagine if we looked at life this way? When looking at my life as though it were the leaves of a plant, I can see the holes made by situations and circumstances of the less-than- kind nature. They are very clear to me; some larger than others, some a little more damaging, but all represent when a nasty critter found joy by eating away at the leaf of my life. I see the holes that beat me up and wore me down. I clearly understand that, at times, the crisis made me feel destroyed and even a little ugly. Some holes made me feel more than a little ugly. I felt a lot ugly. But you know what I see when I look up? I see a woman who refused to allow the ugliness of the holes to destroy the bud. I fought to bloom. My fight was against the destroyer who wanted to keep me from the plans God had for me. Your fight begins here too. Regardless of the condition of your leaves, there is still a bud, and eventually that bud will blossom into the flower it was meant to be if you allow God the opportunity to nurture the plant.
As I examined the leaves on my plant, I was reminded of the verse from Joel 2, which holds this promise: “I will repay you for the years the locusts have eaten—the great locust and the young locust, the other locusts and the locust swarm—my great army that I sent among you” (vs.25). That is a lot of locust: the great, the young, the other and the swarm—all causing great destruction as they eat away at your crops. The promise continues, “You will have plenty to eat, until you are full, and you will praise the name of the Lord your God, who has worked wonders for you; never again will my people be shamed” (vs. 26 NIV). Somehow God works wonders for His people; He is a like a pesticide for us.
Throughout the years, I’ve been able to walk beside women whose lives have been left with holes from the destroyer called divorce. I’ve prayed with and for those who endured the heartache born from infidelity as the discovery ate away at the core of security within them. I know some whom, when scanning the leaves of their lives, see the huge hole left by the abortion that still haunts them. There are those who grew up under the heavy hand of abusive or controlling parents, enduring domestic abuse, alcoholism, sexual abuse or mental illness. Scanning the leaf of your life might lead you to think of the damage left by the death of a loved one; grief can consume an entire leaf for some. I also know peer-pressure, bullying, substance abuse and addictions eat away at the leaves of life of family members, touching more than one leaf at a time. Maybe they touched you. Looking over a few of my life leaves, I can see the ones that were nibbled on by the great locust of betrayal. There might be a few of those in your leaves of life too.
Throughout the years, I’ve been able to walk beside women whose lives have been left with holes from the destroyer called divorce. I’ve prayed with and for those who endured the heartache born from infidelity as the discovery ate away at the core of security within them. I know some whom, when scanning the leaves of their lives, see the huge hole left by the abortion that still haunts them. There are those who grew up under the heavy hand of abusive or controlling parents, enduring domestic abuse, alcoholism, sexual abuse or mental illness. Scanning the leaf of your life might lead you to think of the damage left by the death of a loved one; grief can consume an entire leaf for some. I also know peer-pressure, bullying, substance abuse and addictions eat away at the leaves of life of family members, touching more than one leaf at a time. Maybe they touched you. Looking over a few of my life leaves, I can see the ones that were nibbled on by the great locust of betrayal. There might be a few of those in your leaves of life too.
I am not sure how God does it, but I know He does. I’ve experienced and witnessed His ability to bring forth a bud from the midst of damaged leaves, a bud which eventually blossomed into the flower He always knew was there. God promised to work wonders for us, and through the prophet Isaiah He said, “Instead of your shame you will receive a double portion, and instead of disgrace you will rejoice in your inheritance. And so you will inherit a double portion in your land, and everlasting joy will be yours” (Isaiah 61:7 NIV). We must refuse the enemy's attempts to seal our hearts and minds with bitterness and resentment towards God for the holes in our lives. Satan wants us to blame God and hold on to our pain rather than offering it up to God as a sacrifice, which brings the victory. I believe God intended for me, for us, to remember that while the enemy will always enjoy nibbling and feasting on the leaves of our lives, God’s desire for us is to look up. Take your eyes off of the damaged leaf and look to find the bud. In fact, there is probably more than one. You are full of buds just waiting to blossom.
I just realized — now that my hibiscus is blooming, I never even notice the leaves. All I see are the beautiful, captivating flowers on a plant that stands straight and tall, like a champion displaying her beauty.
Aim to see the
Buds that are waiting to
Captivate others
I just realized — now that my hibiscus is blooming, I never even notice the leaves. All I see are the beautiful, captivating flowers on a plant that stands straight and tall, like a champion displaying her beauty.
Aim to see the
Buds that are waiting to
Captivate others
RSS Feed