Believer…Bloom!
2020!!
I could just write those numbers and leave it right here, it is enough to ponder and I am sure you will agree.
In all things we thank God and the same goes for this year. It is the year that was sent to wake us up and shift us back in alignment with God because some things need to change to move us into the promise of what is to come according to His word. I call it the year of the level playing field on all fronts. It is also a year pregnant with opportunity which will only be born when one has the right lens/perspective.
A few days ago, I heard the word ‘bloom’ and then shortly after I heard the phrase ‘rose in a concrete world’ which I recalled from an old song. It was like a picture was being painted. I pondered on both of these and started to see some real gems here.
The word “bloom” is both a noun and a verb which has so many incredible meanings. Bloom is a state/time of beauty and freshness. It can also be described as a state/time of high development or achievement. Another meaning is to produce abundantly, to mature into achievement of one's potential, to flourish in beauty, freshness or excellence, to shine and the list goes on.
I thought, “Lord, what does this mean? How does this apply to our situation today? The current environment does not seem to be favourable to any of these definitions of blooming. Or is it just me?”. Almost immediately, I was reminded of the phrase I mentioned earlier “A rose in a concrete world” and my attention was also drawn to cactus plants which I had done some, studying on a few days before (topic for another post).
A rose in a concrete world
Roses are generally known to be beautiful plants which look and smell nice. To some, they even symbolise love. Yes, their stems have thrones but those are there to protect them from weeds and wild animals, like how intentional is God!
When I think about concrete, I think; rough, gritty, tough, ugly, not flexible, dark. Concrete does not provide great conditions for roses or any beautiful flowers to grow. How can a rose actually grow from concrete? How can the seeds germinate? How can its stems push through the cracks of the concrete and blossom? What level of resilience does it have?
This maybe a phenomenon of nature but we can draw parallels from the concrete world and our current world. The world today is merciless, unforgiving, unstable and dark. Needless to say, the conditions are tough and may not seem obviously conducive for growth but my dear friend, growth is possible and best believe that you can bloom.
How do we bloom?
I believe that now is the time for believers to bloom. You may ask, how?
In John 15 verse 5, Jesus says (paraphrased) I am the vine and you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you (i.e. if you make room for Me), you will bear much fruit. Nothing said here is based on the external factors of the place (the world) the plant is located. The flourishing, fruit bearing and blooming comes from our surrender to Christ. The factors needed for our sustainable growth comes from surrounding ourselves with the Word, not the world. We as believers bloom from being planted in the Lord not from the changing conditions of the world.
News flash…the Word (Jesus) is consistent, the world isn’t
Let us look at the rose, the factors needed for its growth and how we can draw parallels in our walk.
Light - Roses, like most other plants need light. It helps with the process of photosynthesis where light is converted to chemical energy which fuels growth. Jesus is the light of the world, John 8:12 and He came so we would not remain in the darkness of this world. John 12:46 says, “I have come as Light into the world so that everyone who believes in Me will not remain in darkness”.
Rich Soil - Roses need rich, well-draining soil. If we consider the parable of the sower Jesus shared in Mark 4, Luke 8 and Mathew 13, we can see clearly that the seeds which thrive are planted in good soil. Soil that would cause its roots to grow deep. This soil can be compared to the factors that we allow to influence our growth. They ultimately impact how far we will grow. If we allow things like ungodly thoughts or principles to infiltrate and cause weeds to come in, this will impact our ability to grow effectively.
Water - Roses need water to grow. Water speaks of cleansing and refreshing. We are watered by the Word of God. Jesus said in John 7:38, that “he who believes in Me, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water”. He that believes in me, not he that looks to the world or pays attention to the conditions in it. As we believe in Him and these waters flow from within, they nourish our fruit causing us to flourish and bloom!
Pruning - pruning means the cutting away of dead over grown branches or stems to encourage growth. In John 15:2, the Lord does the same “He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit while every branch that does bears fruit He prunes so that it will be even more fruitful”. We can see from this that the pruning is not only necessary for growth but it is a continuous process. The Lord continuously prunes us so we can grow even more and you guessed it…bloom!
For us despite the concrete world we are surrounded by, we actually have all the conditions needed for our growth available to us. They cannot be found in the concrete world but are all in Christ.
If we consider the time we are in, we see scripture being fulfilled right before our eyes, with even more to come (according to scripture). It is evident that more than ever, we need to remain in Christ, that is we will bloom and bear fruit that will last (John 15:16).
Our blooming also will testify of who God is and will bring forth a harvest. As believers we must also learn to strike the balance between living here on earth and being solely eternity focused. The latter is where one doesn’t have a view of letting God manifest in their life here on earth and are just focused on ‘making heaven’. We are sons and as us such we are to manifest our Father’s glory on the earth.
Believer it is time to bloom! Remain in Christ.
Love,
MoAdiah