Growth
For a seed to achieve its greatest expression, it must come completely undone. The shell cracks, its insides come out and everything changes. To someone who doesn’t understand growth, it would look like complete destruction.
A seed requires optimal conditions for growth, doesn’t it?
Don’t the seeds of our soul require something similar?
I just moved from the Texas Hill Country, where groups of wildflowers seem to sing louder than the ones who stand alone. Their beauty is distracting, so it’s easy to lose site of the road while taking a bumpy ride along unpaved farm roads. Who stops to consider how these flowers got there, or if they’ll be there next year? Everyone just appreciates their existence; we don’t ask questions.
The lone wildflowers still sing loud enough for the bees to hear their song, so they make it. They are on new territory. Perhaps conditions were unfavorable for wildflower growth? They choose to thrive, anyway. These solitary blooms may stand alone along creeks that overflow during rainy months. Maybe they found a home in the light of the sun where there used to be shade cast by a flood-uprooted tree? So many scenarios and tragedies leading up to their seemingly coincidental arrival. Their Creator knows how and why, even if the rest of us don’t. The reasons don’t matter now because they’re just there — alone — but full of color. They are perfectly scattered.
It is easy to marvel at the world around us. We don’t have to drive out to the country to appreciate life. Sometimes it is loud and obvious in sharing its beauty with us. Other times it’s quietly hidden beneath the resentment we have to work through. But if seeking beauty becomes our only focus, we can lose sight of the path we’re on.
The seed of faith planted in each of our souls requires our permission to break open. The one who was first broken for us planted the seed because it has a purpose. Fully accepting that He conquered death under the worst conditions will allow us to bloom under any condition, and thrive.
Our computer screens are another window to the outside. We’re overwhlemed by what we see, but it’s not always pleasant. Selectively chosen photos of functional families remind us of what we’re lacking in our lives, and it stings. To be fair, our feeds are also filled with families torn apart by universal suffering; war ravages fields that have forgotten what it’s like to hold wildflowers.
You cannot change what is there, but you can change your response and that will affect what surrounds you. What thoughts feed the soil in the field of flowers you belong to, or want to belong to? The condition of our hearts will influence how everything grows within and around us, from our children to the rest of the world. It begins in our thoughts; makes its way into our homes; influences one relationship, then another. Simply put, social media shows us that we are all mysteriously connected. Though we may look like a solitary wildflower on the side of a winding road, we were made for a purpose — to belong to (and with) each other by…
Rejoic[ing] with those who rejoice; weep[ing] with those who weep. Liv[ing] in harmony with one another. Romans 12:14–15
Maybe you feel like a lost seed among a group of wildflowers. You believe that you stand alone with the sun as your only companion, but there you stand, anyway. Maybe you are the first of many to come, not knowing how anything but weeds will ever grow on the rocky soil around you. But this is just one season.
Starting a new family when you come from a broken one can feel like that. But it’s not about perfect conditions. Winds, storms, and floods overwhelm everything that’s ever bloomed. There are no exceptions, we must all break open to bloom even if the circumstances look different. We aren’t so alone, after all.
