Bloom Where You're Planted

I was minding my own business one day as we were going by a tree in our front yard when something caught my eye. The tree had little buds on it even though we still had snow. "Wow, spring must be coming early this year," I thought.

I didn't think too much more about it, but then I heard Holy Spirit say, "Bloom where you're planted."

Okay, that makes sense with our life events right now. But then it kept circling through my head. Bloom where you're planted. Bloom where you're planted. Bloom where you're planted.

It brought to mind the Bible verse in Psalm 1:3. "He will be like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in its season, And its leaf does not wither; And in whatever he does, he prospers."

The Lord wanted to show me something, so when we got back home, He had me go out near the tree. By now there was fresh snow swirling around the budding branches and the wind was icy cold.

"Lord, what do you want me to see?" Sometimes we need to be taken to a place to be able to see through the right lens.

"Tell me what you see."

I glanced around again at the tree with its buds, the snowflakes coming down earnestly now, the wind throwing snow into my face, and the frozen ground. Then I told Him.

He said, "What does that mean for the buds on the tree?"

I had a feeling I knew where He was going with this. "It doesn't look promising."

See, too many people look at their life circumstances and instantly go by what they see and not what He said. If He said it, He will do it. (Numbers 23:19, Isaiah 55:11, Romans 4:21, 2 Corinthians 1:20, Hebrews 10:23 NASB) That will be a message for another time as there is a lot to unpack with that statement!

Back to the snow swirling around the tree. In Psalm 1:3, it says, "which yields its fruit in its season." Have you ever thought that the season in that verse has to be ideal for that tree to bloom? What about the hard seasons? The seasons that feel wrong to try to bear fruit in? What if the season we're in has us feeling like giving up, but we can bear fruit in the middle of it?

Sometimes the hardest and roughest seasons can bear the most beautiful blossoms if we'll stay yielded to the Lord. Look at that verse again. "planted by streams of water." If you'll stay firmly planted in Holy Spirit, you'll richly grow. But if you give way to rivers of bitterness, resentment, unforgiveness, and the like--you won't yield the right kind of fruit. That fruit can come in looking beautiful on the outside, but rotten on the inside.

I want my roots to go deep and be firmly planted in Jesus, so that I can withstand anything with a heart that has fruits of the Spirit. Don't you?

I want to encourage you today to bloom where you're planted. What season are you in right now? Is it a hard one? Maybe it feels easy, almost too easy. Maybe you're somewhere in-between. Maybe you're not even sure.

Look for the opportunities He's giving you to grow. What newness does He want you to have in your season? He has you in this season, He will be faithful to bring you through it. Some of my most challenging seasons have grown me tremendously in an area in Jesus because I yielded to His will and not my own.

Stay rooted in Him and watch as what appears to be a hard season, becomes easy because He's never left or forsaken you.

BLOOM WHERE YOU'RE PLANTED!