I live in Texas and if you’ve never experienced Texas in August … well, it’s a whole new level of challenging, a bit like an episode of Survivor except on the surface of the Sun.
The grass is brown, spring plants have long ago given up the fight. Trees are struggling.
However, my favorite flowers seem to bloom their very brightest in the middle of an exhausting stretch of 100 degree days. It’s the strangest thing to see the unbelievable loveliness of a Bougainvillea against the backdrop of this barren, desert place. Don’t get me wrong, I love the blooms in Spring … the variety of colors and shapes, so healthy but honestly it’s easy to bloom in 75 degree weather, when everything is going well. When times get hard those Spring flowers are the first to die.
A sweet friend of mine suggested the possibility of a correlation to the struggle and hardship and the beauty of the Bougainvillea. She’s so right! Aren’t we most surprised by beauty when it’s against all odds? That’s when beauty is well… most beautiful.
When you see joy in the midst of cancer.
Kindness in the midst of horrific injustice.
Forgiveness in the midst of the most unforgivable.
Peace in the midst of devastating loss.
Generosity given out of poverty.
Hope against all odds.
We don’t expect it, it’s not normal. No actually, it’s not … it’s divine.
One of the most beautiful souls I’ve ever known inspired me with her mantra, “We don’t get to choose how we glorify God.” Her platform for showing the world who God is .. was brain cancer. And her effervescent joy and smile contrasted against the backdrop of cancer was all the more beautiful for it.
After about 20 days of scorching heat, my Bougainvilleas started to look pretty haggard so I gave up on them. I quit watering, and turned my eyes and my hope towards Fall. Assuming that this Texas summer had won the war. I gave up … but they did not, they hung on. So I started feeding and watering again and they began blooming like crazy!
I don’t know if you’re like me … but I’ve had hard seasons when I started to wilt and give up and start looking forward to the next season. My emotions told me, God is not in this place. Assuming the enemy had won this one, that the best I could do is endure until I got to a new season.
Christine Cain says, “Sometimes when you’re in a dark place you think you’ve been buried, but you’ve actually been planted.”
Maybe in the next season I’ll shine. But shining here, in this hard place? How?
The same way my flowers did … by being fed, and nourished. Rooted in Christ.
Remain in me, as I remain in you. Just as a branch cannot bear fruit on its own unless it remains on the vine, so neither can you unless you remain in me. I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever remains in me and I in him will bear much fruit, because without me you can do nothing…By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit. ~ John 15:4-9
“But blessed are those who trust in the Lord
and have made the Lord their hope and confidence.
They are like trees planted along a riverbank,
with roots that reach deep into the water.
Such trees are not bothered by the heat
or worried by long months of drought.
Their leaves stay green,
and they never stop producing fruit.
~ Jeremiah 17:7-8
When we stay connected to Jesus and trust Him in the hard, we become resilient and strong, blooming beyond expectation. Our fruit comes from the Root.
From me comes your fruit. ~ Hosea 14:8
We can grow anywhere, under any conditions, “trees not bothered by the heat” .. like wildflowers on the roadside, like Bougainvilleas in a Texas summer. It’s in the struggle we develop brawn in our soul.
Shining in the midst of darkness, blooming in the middle of a desert causes others to see … not you, but God … His goodness, His faithfulness, His strength and power. Because goodness knows, nothing good could come from August in Texas without Him!!
Those difficult places are opportunities to bloom, and to glorify God.
You see the journey is as sacred as the destination because God IS in this place.
Brokenness is a magnet for Him. When we need Him, He WILL be there. And He’ll enable us to bloom in the most barren places. So bloom right in the smack dab middle of whatever season you find yourself in. And show the world Who God is… Strong. Faithful. Beautiful. Able. You might just inspire someone else to do the same.
