I have a few new beauties on my back porch this summer. Hot pink geraniums, in a large planter. Whenever I see them, I smile. Partly because my husband brought them home for me from the nursery, these bold flowers of pink, when I had asked for something red. He’s color blind, but thought they were just right – and he was correct. Turns out they are perfect.
Today I went out to water them, lingering a few moments to “dead head” the old and dying flowers, preparing for the new blooms to pop out. The blooms were shut tight, heads hanging down. But, slivers of pink show at the tips, betraying the truth that maybe, just maybe we’ll have new flowers show casing God’s handiwork any day now.
How I love the beauty of God’s creation!
These geraniums reminded me of His truth today. Just as the flowers have to wait patiently for me to water and care for them – I too need to wait. My life is full of gifts from the heavenly father, waiting to bloom – but they are only buds, sealed up – and I must wait for Him to tend my heart. I must rely on Him to draw out the gifts of His spirit in me, in His time, and His way. Every opportunity, every possibility – a part of His providence – is a gift that allows me to bloom fully and more beautifully than I ever could by my own design.
I want to tell you that I do the growing – and that it lasts forever. That would be nice, wouldn’t it? My geraniums, they flower a bit, and then they die – and then more buds pop out, they open and flower, and then they die again. It is a continuous cycle. The same thing happens to me: I learn. I grow. I forget. I sin. I learn. I grow. I forget. Over and over there is dead fruit to contend with : impatience. anger. pride. selfishness. Graciously, He helps me to reckon with my own sin, forgiving me when I repent, plucking it away, and preparing me for new blooms.
I love the words from John 15, because it reminds me that without Him I’m completely disabled. My fruit is completely and totally reliant on Him.
5 “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. 6 If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. 7 If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. 8 By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.
It is his glorious plan, and I am grateful that He is the most tender and patient gardener of my heart.
daily portion 