Perhaps the only downside to Autumn for me is fewer blooms in my garden. Small groups of summer blooms linger until the first hard frost; mums and Autumn Joy pop up here and there, but by and large, the profuse color of spring and summer has ceased. But lost blooms are not lost growth!
While showy blooms capture our delight, they offer but a glimpse of the true beauty of a plant; so it is with our lives, brief moments of spotlight accomplishments fail to exhibit the true loveliness of our souls.
As visual creatures, we cannot deny the attraction of physical beauty, but my trip to the garden revealed a depth to beauty we often miss when lingering only on the surface.
Welcome to the garden for a time of Garden Grace, where we allow God to reveal Himself through His creation. We linger together gleaning all He has for us through the beauty of plants, trees, animals and insects. I can’t wait to share my most recent discovery with you!
Lost Blooms
Autumn clean up in the garden brings a wistful feeling of past glory, as if what was will never come again. Yet fingering a few dead heads of echinacea, reminded me lost blooms are not lost growth, as the tiny black seeds fell to the ground.
“Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.”
John 12:24, NIV
But what we often perceive as dead, actually brings new life to the plant in the next season.
Though we delight in the seasonal blooms, the true growth of the plant occurs in the season of obscurity, the season where the life of the plant lies buried beneath the soil.
Walking through a similar life season, I have no showy blooms capturing attention or praise, but deep in the hidden corners of my soul, God cultivates new growth for a time yet future.
“For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day.”
2 Corinthians 4:16, NIV
Lost Blooms Are Not Lost Growth
As the warmth of the Autumn sun washes over my diminished garden, the newly worked soil reminds me rest births renewal. Beneath the rich dark mulch, growth not only continues, but flourishes.
In seasons where we may feel set aside, or overwhelmed by the darkness of hard paths, God remains at work in the depths of our souls preparing us for our next fruitful season.
In the same way the garden moves through seasons of flourishing blooms and dormancy, so God incorporates those rhythms into our lives. Seasons of fruitfulness and activity for His kingdom shift into intervals of rest, cultivating soul growth.
Whether in a season of rich blooms or one of hidden cultivation, rest in the sure hands of a loving God who lovingly nurtures your soul, that you may bear fruit for His kingdom.
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Republished with permission from Blogs.crossmap.com, featuring inspiring Bible verses about Lost Blooms Are Not Lost Growth.
