Spring came late this year, and now it's almost summer. I hadn't ever heard the name "red powder puff" or seen that flower in bloom before my recent trip to California. I feasted on a gorgeous array of blooming tropical flora and couldn't help stopping to capture the images on my phone. As we walked through gardens and neighborhoods with beautifully landscaped yards, I began to ponder the question: what makes us bloom and flourish?
I definitely don't have a green thumb, but I generally know that to grow and bloom, a plant needs the right soil with nutrients, light and water. I know that some of us have been given the gift of being planted in rich soil that promotes growth, which makes me ask the question: how do you know someone is blooming and blossoming? Is it the goals we are achieving that everyone can see or the unseen cultivation of our inner souls?
I have come to know, that to truly bloom and grow, we need to know our Creator, the One who made us and knows the depths of our souls. The One who fashioned us in His image and makes us bloom and cultivates the garden of our souls as we feed on His word.
You've probable heard the proverb, "bloom where you're planted." To bloom in hard soil, you need deep roots. What you're cultivating in good soil will show in seasons of difficult soil.
But, what if you didn't have the gift of rich soil to build on? What if you were trapped in slavery and felt your soul wither away with each passing day of hopelessness? What if you longed to break away and bloom but you couldn't because you were trapped? What if the slavery was not only physical, but also spiritual?
Then again, what if you came to know that the One who created you provided a way out so that you could be planted on good soil and receive what you needed for your soul to grow and bloom? So that, as you bloom, you can enrich the lives of those around you and share about the One who will always make their soul bloom? Today, as we continue to seek to help provide economic opportunities to fight slavery and poverty, let's never stop looking to the Creator, the only One who can feed the garden of all our souls and make us bloom forever.
"Like a tree planted in by streams of water, which yields it's fruit in season and whose leaves do not wither."
Psa 1:3
