- More than twelve inches of flower
Today my dinner plate bloomed.
Before you imagine a heap of shrubbery for my evening meal, let me remind you I grow flowers. BIG flowers. Dahlias the size of a dinner plate.
Like a child before Christmas shaking the presents under the tree, I walk through my dahlias peering into unopened blossoms, waiting for the sun to coax the flowers from their buds. My anticipation grows with each new day, remembering the colors I grew last summer, yet anxious to see the new flowers I added this spring. Like the holiday package you know contains socks and the one for which you have no clue because Dad bought it to surprise you, both are welcomed.
I’ve transferred my enthusiasm for dahlias to my husband. He enjoys (or so he says) hauling compost, running water lines, and driving t-posts into the ground. I follow along behind tying up the stalks, weeding the gremlins creeping into the garden and spraying any bugs brave enough to invade my blossoms.
Often I take a picture of a bloom before it has fully opened, not realizing how wide the flower will spread. A day or two later I return to find the petals rounded out, and, as if drawn by an unseen force, the dahlia’s face has surrendered to the sun, its beauty completely regaled.
Like the sun beckoning the flowers to open, so God calls us to himself. He desires to lighten our load and lead us if we trust Him.
Proverbs 3:5 (NKJV) “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.”
Our human nature holds us back. We don’t always trust Him with a full part of ourselves, giving control only over that which we say. Like a flower refusing the sun, we resist His power to unfold us completely.
Matthew 11:28-30 (NKJV) “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and My burden is light.”
Imagine the flower we could become if we were totally surrendered to a loving heavenly Father.