Visiting the coastline on a recent trip, I was amazed at the variation and beauty and uniqueness of the types of flowers and plants that all grew in the same soil. Same coastline, same weather conditions, and same temperatures…but there was such uniqueness in the types of plants that grew and blossomed in those same conditions.
Just like us–God’s children.
Do we believe today in the unique, creative, varied power of our God? That He can do whatever He wishes within us and within our lives…and within our world? Do we believe that God is accomplishing things in us and our lives right now? Special and beautiful things…intimate to me and intimate to you, but all according to our Lord’s good plan and growth plan for each of us?
We like the “good” part (“For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.” ~Jeremiah 29:11), but the “growth” part isn’t so comfortable.
When life stretches our faith, it’s also the Lord stretching us too. When we are weak, we must come to grips that He alone is our strength. (But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. ~2 Corinthians 12:9).
To be sure…God is at work even at this moment. He is interceding in our lives, whether we are able to discern it or not.
And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God.
(28) And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. ~Romans 8:27-28
Today may look like any other day. It might feel like any other day, but God is doing unique and impactful works within each one of us
today.
And while each of us serves the only true God (John 17:3), each of us will receive God’s call/discipline/and giftings uniquely upon our lives. Each of us as His children are uniquely different, and so are His plans for each one of us.
There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. (5) There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. (6) There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work.
(7) Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. (8) To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, (9) to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, (10) to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues. (11) All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them to each one, just as he determines.
(12) Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. ~I Corinthians 12:4-12
Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. ~Romans 12:2
What I love about our Lord is the unique variation and detail of His work in each individual life. One person is rejoicing over a joy or triumph in their life. Another is weeping at a brokenness or sorrow in their life. Another has their head-down and nose-to-the-grindstone and still another is reclining in the peace and bounty of God’s provision. And all of it is God’s plan. The seasons of life and the emotion and trial and blessing that each season brings to us–they all teach us something about God’s character and becoming closer to Him and more like Him.
“He must become greater; I must become less.” ~John 3:30
Don’t fight, or avoid, or take-for-granted, or miss what God is doing in our lives today and now. He has so many children, and we are one of them: be amazed at the variation and beauty and uniqueness of what He is doing in our life and in the lives of others.
And we have a choice today: let’s choose to blossom in our current conditions.
Do we believe today in the unique, creative, varied power of our God?
I saw it in the flowers along the coastline, but we see it in each other too. God is accomplishing things in us and our lives right now. Special and beautiful things…intimate to me and intimate to you, but all according to our Lord’s good plan and growth plan for each of us.
Stop and smell the flowers today, and let’s praise the Lord for His creativity and sovereignty over us and over all things.
He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. ~Colossians 1:17
