When Troy and I first got married and started our home, we made multiple attempts to grow sunflowers. Every year we would prepare the perfect patch for them, and every year we would have a gully wash of rain the day we planted. The tiny seeds were always carried away from their perfect patch to some unknown destination.
Sometimes life seems like those washed away sunflowers. We have this grand picture in our head of how life will unfold. But every once in a while, no matter how hard we try, we find our life on a different path than we imagined. Many times the path is beautiful, but other times the path is difficult. Sometimes the rains of life beat down on us. It shakes us loose from our comfort zone and maybe even changes our location. We may even feel like we are being carried away by life's torrential downpours.
Two years ago, we made a new flower bed in my backyard. We planted some iris bulbs a friend had given us, and we hung a bird feeder. Until the other day, I had decided hanging a bird feeder in a flower bed is a terrible idea, because the birds are not very careful, and they often drop seed everywhere. This results in an enormous amount of weeds growing in the bed.
God changed my mind though, because I found a welcomed, unexpected surprise among those weeds. My heart soared when I discovered a beautiful sunflower growing voluntarily in that bed. My brain immediately started thinking about how my life was very much like the sunflower before me. What I thought had been missed opportunities in my life, were really just God's way of taking care of me because He had something better in store for me. And what about those sunflowers that got washed away all those years ago? I am sure they brought beauty and joy wherever God sprouted them.
Are you struggling with something right now? Does it seem like God is saying no to things or shutting doors for you when you feel like you want to walk through those doors? Maybe He's not really saying, "No." Maybe, like my sunflowers, He's saying, "Not yet." Jeremiah 29:11 says: "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."
So remember this: God always has us right where He wants us. We just need to trust Him and know His ways are best. Sometimes it will rain, but many, many days the sun will shine. So always remember to bloom where you are planted.
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