When the Flower Shrinks

I remember one year we bought a seed packet that contained multiple varieties of flowers.  When the super pretty ones died off, it was the wildflowers that took over.  They were much more hardy than some of the others and took over the garden.

I was reading the Gospel of Matthew Chapter 6, verses 25+ about our dependence on God.  You know, the one where we are encouraged not to worry about what we will drink, eat or wear, because God's got this?

"Learn from the way the wild flowers grow.  They do not work or spin."  

So far so good, I'm thinking.  No need to work or spin.  Okay, I can try that!

All kidding aside, I realize Jesus is not telling us not to work, but that our everyday things need not be the main focus of our concern:

"Look at the birds in the sky; they do not sow or reap, they gather nothing into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them."

The point is, God knows what we need and he provides it.  Sometimes, it might seem to us like he's forgotten us during the hard times, but this passage is a solid reminder that no matter what we are going through, God is there.

What scares me is when the images in my mind wander to a dry plot of land where the flowers start to dry up.  How is that encouraging?  I thought God was protecting even the wild flowers?

Like those flowers, we, too, go through cycles in our natural life.  The problem is, we think those dry periods, where the growing slows down is the worst.  We think that when we reach that point, scripture is proven untrue.  See? we say, look out my window.  Flowers begin to wilt.  Guess that passage wasn't true.

That's where we are wrong.

We, like that flower, have the work of bringing beauty to the world.  In our time, we, too, flourish and grow.  Reaching to the light of God's rays for strength, we will be given all that we need.  But, like the wildflower, when our earthly life appears to be shrinking, that does not mean God is done with us.  No, it is the time when our beauty is exemplified in different ways.

Let's look at what Pope Francis had to say about this last year when he was talking to some elderly priests in northern Italy September 16, 2021:

"You are experiencing a season, old age, which is not a disease but a privilege . . . And even those of you who are sick live, we can say, a privilege: that of resembling Jesus who suffers, carrying the cross just like Him,” (Catholic News Agency)

Yes, even as the flower begins to shrink, God provides it with a way to continue its beauty.  It's glory may not look like it did when it was growing, but it never loses its radiance.  For us, that comes with the privilege of sharing even more in the cross of Jesus.

The passage in Matthew is, therein, proven true.   God continues to provide for us, throughout our entire life.

"You are the bearers of dreams, dreams full of memory and therefore very important for the younger generations precisely because your dreams are the root . . . From you comes the sap to flourish in the Christian life and in ministry.” (Catholic News Agency)

Janet Cassidy
janetcassidy.blogspot.com