The other day, my wonderful boyfriend gave me a beautiful bouquet of bright, yellow sunflowers. If you don't know me already, I am a huge fan of anything yellow. Yellow is such a happy color. It's bright, vibrant, and just screams joy to me.
When I was presented these flowers, I couldn't avoid the big smile that was tattooed on my face. Even after I brought them home, trimmed them, and gently placed them in a vase full of nourishing water, I find myself grinning every time they catch my eye. It's contagious.
These sunflowers that sit so contently in my bedroom are a beautiful reminder as to how I believe God wants us to strive to be like everyday. He wants us to reflect His son. But how do we go about doing that?
If you look at a sunflower, they are very similar to any other flower but at the same time holds qualities that separate them and make them stand out differently.
Take the tulip for example; I absolutely adore the daintiness of tulips. However, tulips whither away faster than most flowers. Their petals drop after just a couple days from blossoming and they have a tendency to wilt after an aggressive storm.
Sunflowers on the other hand are strong. When they are planted in the proper season upon fertile soil, they will grow sturdy. Their stems are thick and tall which enables them to withstand the heaviest of storms. Sitting on top of the stem is the head of the sunflower; dozens of bright, yellow petals gracefully tracing the bulb in the middle. Sunflowers won't decimate after a storm. In fact, heavy rain storms are quite necessary for sunflowers as it allows them to be nourished properly so they can continue to stand tall and shine bright.
If you think about it, we can learn a lot of lessons from sunflowers with our relationships with Jesus. He is our foundation for everything. We can't do anything upon our own strength. I mean, we can try, but believe me when I say that when the next rough and stormy season hits, we won't be able to withstand it without Him. Instead, we will wilt like the tulip.
But Jesus doesn't want that. He wants us to keep trusting Him through the good and difficult seasons of life. Sunshine is wonderful but the storm is nourishing. When we have Jesus as our solid foundation, He will enable us to grow tall and strong. We will be able to stand confident in our faith in Him while shining His joyous light for all the see! We will be able to not only find joy in the stormy season, but reflect that contagious joy to everyone around us.
"Yet God has made everything beautiful for its own time. He has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so people cannot see the whole scope of God's work from beginning to end. So I concluded there is nothing better than to be happy and enjoy ourselves as long as we can." Ecclesiastes 3:11-12
Last Sunday, the pastor at my church was preaching about the importance on having a thankful heart. Even when you're having a chaotic day, there will always be something you can be thankful for. It's all about the switch in perspective. You can choose to focus on the negatives, or you can start practicing on shifting your perspective on the parts of your day that made you smile.
"Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise; give thanks to Him and praise His name!" Psalm 100:4
I believe a heart filled with gratitude in the midst of a stormy season is the key to obtaining authentic joy. It will make you stronger and increase your faith as well as maintaining your trust in Jesus! The next time you find yourself going through a rough season, be like a sunflower! Stand tall with confidence in your faith and keep on shining that bright light! The choice is yours: when things get rough, you can either wilt and be destroyed; or you can withstand it and be nourished. Remember, seasons are temporary and the rain will pass. Instead of being discouraged, allow the rainy season to nourish you like it nourishes the sunflower. Think about it, if a sunflower didn't have rain, it would wilt. The rain is substantial for the sunflower to continue growing tall and strong. So be like a sunflower! Allow your stormy season to serve its purpose and help you grow more into the strong, beautiful, and purposeful person God created you to be!
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