**During the month of January, we will be reposting some of the top posts from 2024. We hope these will encourage you and connect to your heart. Stay tuned for all new posts coming in February 2025!**
I have always loved flowers. For as long as I can remember, they have captivated me. The vast array of shapes, the infinite shades of color – flowers move me. They speak to me of the heart of God.
But have you ever noticed how some of the most beautiful blooms come from the most difficult of circumstances? Flowers can grow and bloom on the side of cliffs, in the frigid landscapes of Alaska, and even in the desert. Even the beloved peony, requires a freeze to bloom in the spring.
Every summer, we visit my husband’s family ranch. And while they do get some rain, it is basically…a desert. I’ve made multiple trips to this place of wild beauty over the years, but one thing that is rare to find at the ranch is a flower – one that blooms. Several years ago, while on one such trip, a spark of yellow caught my eye. It was so unusual, and I didn’t have any kids with me at the moment (also highly unusual for that season of life), so I trekked over to it. It turned out that the spark of yellow, was the most GORGEOUS flower I have ever seen. It was mainly yellow, with tinges of pink and orange all throughout it. And it was perched on the edge of a cactus. I knew enough to know that God had placed it there in my eyesight, just for me. As the trip went on, I saw several more – here and there. Finally, I was prompted to ask God – “Lord, I love these, but why here, why now? I’ve been here many summers, and never seen even a single one of these.”
He responded simply, “You are my desert flower.”
I was so impressed by the simplicity of it – and yet didn’t completely understand. I didn’t know it at the time, but I was about to enter a wilderness season. A season with hard circumstances, bouts of spiritual dryness, and lots of loss.
But it was still a season in which I was meant to bloom.
God was not surprised by the desert season I was entering. He knew exactly where he had planted me, and he knew that I would bloom. Even when we don’t know, God does. And just like the flowers that he has placed in the desert, the frigid landscapes of Alaska, and on the side of cliffs – he knows exactly where we are planted.
Those flowers are able to survive in harsh conditions, because God has given them what they need. They have special adaptations, specifically for the circumstances in which they must grow. And so, dear friend, do you.
In a passage where Christ is addressing worry, (Matthew 6:28-29), he says, “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these.” He provided for the flowers, and how much more dear to Him are you?
Just because you are planted in difficult circumstances, does not mean you aren’t meant to bloom.
God has given you all that you need to grow and to bloom. Your environment may not look like one that is conducive for growing incredible blooms, but remember – it’s the harshest environments that sometimes produce the most beautiful blooms. It is in those environments – as friends and family see you toil and suffer – that as they then see you bloom, God’s glory shines the brightest.
So lean in. Press in to his presence, and let your roots go deep. Let him guide you and show you just how he has created you for your unique circumstances.
Let Him show you how to bloom where you are planted. Because you are His Desert Flower.
We want to thank Brooke Kellum for sharing this post.
Women's Ministry 