It’s 6:00 am in the morning. Your phone alarm was set by 7:00 am but you woke up an hour before it rings. You’re awakened by chance without any noise from your surroundings. It is simply the sun rays touching your face and your body heavily laid down in bed. You found yourself staring at the ceiling of your room or at the edge of the pillow beside you. It sounds weird but your stares are the manifestation of your consuming thoughts. As you open your eyes, the process of reflection begins again. Questions with self-made answers start to play in your head again. You don’t feel being sleepless in spite of seamed sleeping hours the past few days.
You just feel tired – something not physical but something that comes from within. There also comes the ought to cry but your eyes already seem fagged to let a tear fall from it. You sat down on your bed and random stares did not stop until you saw your Bible and your journal. You gasp as you started to pray and that’s when you finally become yourself again. Your eyes finally had the strength to cry once more. Your tears become your unspoken words as your mind generates questions again craving for answers. Your mouth starts to speak words of despair and wretchedness with the wish for hope and end of the pain. You feel worthless. You feel alone. You feel as if you’re a lifeless flower that was stepped on and has been drought by your current season.
You opened your Bible and journal as you start to write love letters for the Lord. Tears continue to fall from your eyes as it strews the ink of every word you jot down. You suddenly paused because you no longer know the right words to say. You go back to His Word and hopefully read, “Surely there is a future, and your hope will not be cut off.” -Proverbs 23:18. A spark of unexplainable peace suddenly pierced your heart. Your tears are now falling out of gratefulness and joy. You are now thanking the Lord for His sufficient grace and comfort. Recollections of God’s faithfulness in your life refilled your mind. You are currently broken and have a lot on your plate but you realized that your cup is full. You find yourself now singing melodies of praises and faith. You continued to worship as you finally sealed your time with the Lord with a heart full of hope.
You started brewing the coffee and you finally had the strength again to start a new day right. You are about to leave the house when you saw something delightful from the sight! The plant you are persistently taking care of is now starting to bloom as the sun showers it with its beam. You see yourself days before being hopeless that this plant will no longer be in peak. Dry season hastened its drought until successive afternoon rains start to take place. You were never hesitant to immediately touch it and witness how gracefully it has grown. Its life and color are now in full bloom and without any falter, natural upkeep made you dramatically check any possible infestation or no-good contributor on its growth. You were already running a bit late when you realized the time but “At least,” you said, “God gave me another reason today to smile.”
It was a usual day for few but for you, it was a silent battle you face each day. From the time you wake up in the morning, getting out of bed was already a struggle. It wasn’t the idleness that makes you feel this way but the monsters of fears and anguish thoughts caused by pain and brokenness. You even sometimes dread to share it with anyone for you fear rejection and unruly judgment even from the people of your circle. People seem to think you are a sturdy human who never gets hurt and never gets tired. Who always shrugs off every hardship that comes your way and moves on in real-time. Each sundown for you is an encounter again of God’s constant faithfulness in your life. You know that you can’t endure each day without His lavish and perfect grace.
Another day has ended and you are physically tired but spiritually upbeat. You know that in the next days, there can still be random stares and cries but you know whom to run when your soul needs to recharge. As you were about to head your bed again, God reminded you of your plant that once made you hopeless. You were hopeless that it will no longer come back to life yet you never stopped showering it with love and proper care. Rain fell abundantly the past few days in spite of the dry season then one day, its glorious blossom surprised you again.
A simple scenario yet it turned out to be your reflection that day. God wants you to picture yourself as a flower that was sometimes drought by the painful seasons of life. You were like a flower that was stepped on and your beauty was rejected by people many times. The rain kept on gushing in the midst of brokenness and you don’t understand why it needed to pour down the same time your heart is breaking. The Lord wants to remind you that you are the flower and He is your life’s Gardener. No matter who you are or where you are from, He never gives up on taking care and loving you until the day that you will bloom again with grace. He wants you to understand that like a flower, in order to grow, rain in life is necessary. And just how God is patient with you, you need also to be patient in your self for there is nothing in nature that blooms all year.
There will really be days when you feel inert and your life is meaningless. Afflictions and pain seem like rain that never wants to stop. But just like how God can turn a regular day to an extraordinary one and how He can breathe life again to a lifeless flower, how much more your existence is greater in the sight of your Father! Be still and remember who is your Gardener. The one Who chose you from the moment you were still a seed and have given you life. The one Who never gets tired of taking care of you even sometimes your infestations are in rife. And most importantly, the one Who never loses hope and always believes that no matter how much rain will pour upon you, one day, surely, you will be back again in thrive.
So go, embrace the season you are currently in. Cherish every rainfall and tears and never be afraid to feel dry and empty. Let this season make you see that God is the only source of your light and He is the only Giver of a new life. Let the rain make you grow and plant your own garden. Be encouraged of how far your peak can be and how your future fruits can be a blessing if you will never stop believing. Grow even with the dirt from your roots and see that certainly one day, you will bloom again.
