Oh, Lord. I don’t like where you have planted me. The soil is hard, and it keeps scratching my roots. The sun is also too hot, and when the rain comes, my stem gets all flooded!
If I was a plant right now, trying its best to grow in hard, rocky soil, that’s what I would be thinking. The places where God plants us are not always comfortable – in fact, they are stressful to be in! But what does God expect us to do? He expects us to blossom where we are.
A few years ago, I was working somewhere that was quite uncomfortable to be at. I had a boss who was hell-bent on belittling me and making my life miserable. Every day was a trial. The hardest part was, I loved my job – it was great – but the working environment was just terrible.
One day the boss did the unthinkable – schemed to make sure I did not get a raise for three years straight. Meanwhile, my colleagues were laughing all the way to bank. I was so discouraged and heartbroken. At this time, I was serving actively in the worship team at church, and I just couldn’t understand why I would have such a hard time at work, yet I was serving God!
Then I learnt a hard lesson – I had to learn to blossom in that hard, rocky soil. I had to do my best, be my best, and present my best to the people I worked with. I had to display Christ amid my troubles.
I have had many more such experiences since then, and though I am still a work in progress, I have definitely learnt a few things about blossoming under difficult circumstances. Below I share a few pointers that I hope will help you to blossom too!
Let the refreshing rain of the Holy Spirit quench your thirst
Every growing plant needs water, right? Have you ever looked closely at a flower during the dry season? The ground all around it looks dry and parched, and as the roots of this flower struggle to dig into the soil in search of water, the leaves droop, and the stem turns brown.
That’s how we look when we are struggling to blossom where the soil is dry and unfriendly, and the weather is harsh. For many of us, however, when the rain comes, we still don’t flourish because we don’t know how to take advantage of the little water that comes our way -water that is sent to renew our strength.
When I am struggling to find my footing in a new place, I sometimes forget that it is the Lord who has sent me there (true story). I end up looking to my own strength and ‘wisdom’ to help me settle in better, and, as is expected, I find myself longing for just one drop of water to quench my thirst and give me some relief. God, in his mercy, sends me more than one drop, but because I am not looking to him for his help, I remain thirsty. You may find this analogy strange, but that is exactly what happens to me, and I know it has happened to many other Christians.
How I wish I would remember to let the Lord quench my thirst – not just the physical thirst, but also the spiritual thirst – a thirst that only the Holy Spirit can quench. I need to remember that when the Holy Spirit refreshes me, I will become more inclined to focus on the Lord and his plans for me rather than my current situation. And, once I begin to seek the Lord’s will where I am planted, I will blossom into a beautiful flower!
Isaiah 44:3 “For I will pour out water to quench your thirst and to irrigate your parched fields. And I will pour out my Spirit on your descendants, and my blessing on your children.” (NLT)
Let the sunshine from the Word of God light your path
Plants need sunshine to make their food – a process called photosynthesis, if I remember right. Without the sunshine, therefore, a plant will not grow as well as it should. Any farmer can attest to the fact that the balance of rain and sunshine must be just right for their crops to grow to the point of harvest.
Plants love sunshine. If you have indoor plants, you will notice that their leaves lean towards the direction of the sun, as they search for its nourishing warmth. Where, then, do we get our warm, brilliant sunshine from? From the Word of God.
Psalm 119:105 “Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path.” (NIV)
During the cold season, sunshine is rare, so when it does come out, you see everyone rushing outside to bask! Should we behave the same way towards the Word of God? Most definitely! When you find yourself planted in a cold, unfriendly place, make the most of every opportunity to bask in the sunshine that the Word of God gives you. Remember, the Bible gives you guidance, direction, wisdom, comfort, peace, etc – depending on what you need at the moment!
I know that the last thing you may want to do right now is to look at the Bible – after all, you are already working a way out of the barren land in which you are planted. But guess what – there may be a lesson to learn when you are there – a lifetime lesson. Open your Bible and ask the Lord what lesson he would like to teach you so that you can continue to grow and blossom, rather than wither and die. Direct your leaves towards the light of the Word, and let its light cause you to transform into a beautiful blossom.
Let the Lord himself be your ‘fertilizer’
A little bit of fertilizer goes a long way! Just put a little bit on a struggling plant, and within a few days, you will see a change! Though plants can grow just fine on their own, they sometimes need a little bit of fertilizer for that extra boost.
Being planted in a place where you must keep working hard to remain positive is tough. Eventually, you get tired, and as we all know, a tired person gradually becomes a discouraged person! That is how I felt at that job – I was tired of fighting to remain relevant, tired of working hard for nothing, and tired of being ridiculed!
Then a good friend of mine reminded me that it was the Lord who sent me there and that I still had a job to do. “Where will I get the strength to do all this,” I asked? “From the Lord,” came the answer.
I needed the Lord to strengthen me. I needed his fertilizer – all that he had to give me to enable me to fulfill his purpose in that place. Strength, comfort, guidance, reassurance, encouragement and more – that was what I needed from the Lord.
Back to the farmer. Any farmer will tell you that when soil becomes less productive, use of manure and fertilizer is necessary. Without these two, the plants will not grow well, and the yields will be low. In the same way, when we are planted somewhere, whether it is in good soil or bad soil, we need the Lord’s help to succeed in whatever he has for us to do while we are there.
What kind of ‘fertilizer’ do you need from the Lord today? Do you need his strength? His comfort? His guidance? His love? Ask him for whatever it is you need because he has promised to freely give us whatever we need to complete the tasks that he has placed in our hands.
2 Corinthians 9:8 “And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work.” (NKJV)
The refreshing rain of the Holy Spirit, the brilliant light of the Word, and the Lord himself – that is all we need to blossom where we are planted!
Hi, everyone! Thanks again for reading this week’s article. Are you feeling like you are planted in a place where you are finding it impossible to blossom? Let the tips I have shared above help you to blossom where you are – it might be just where the Lord wants you to be! Don’t forget to share this article with anyone you think might need to read and enjoy the inspiration in this article. Have a great week ahead!
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