Beauty in God’s Unexpected Blessings

It’s been a few weeks since I’ve been in my garden. Honestly, I’ve been neglecting my plant babies, landscaping, and all that, but that here or there…but, needless to say, this little beauty caught my eye today.

With this flower, God reminded me that you should always expect the unexpected from Him. I was not expecting to see this beautiful gem this morning when I walked out of my front door to let my puppy, Snowy Bowie, out. Routinely, when I let him out, I love to admire and scout out my plants for any new surprises that may have popped up overnight in my small vegetable gardens. But, because I knew that work needed to be done in the garden, it stopped me from taking that well-needed time to marvel at God’s creation. Furthermore, my garden was on the struggle side. It’s in a slight garden famine since it has yet to rain much here recently, with overgrown weeds, no fertilizer, and plant food, and it just needs a little TLC.

The last time I saw the plant, only the long leave stems were present. I was not expecting this flower to bloom anytime this year, maybe next year, but what did I know? That’s why judging something based on its environment is not good because you never know the internal work that God is doing on the inside. And we know that we should never doubt God’s doing, for when it is your season, it’s your season! Even your very thoughts can’t stop you from flourishing. Regardless of its environment, limits, or lack, the flower continued to strive under all circumstances unnoticed.

I also noticed that not only did it bloom one flower, but three. When God’s unexpected blessings come, they come in abundance and overflow from the very things we least expected. This thought reminded me of the widow of Zarephath that Elijah met in I King 17: 7-16. She thought her life was about to end because of the famine in the land. When Elijah asked her to bring him a piece of bread, her only response to the prophet was that she had no bread—only a handful of flour in a jar and a little olive oil in a jug. The widow gathered a few sticks to take home to make a meal for herself and her son to eat and die (v.12). The prophet told her not to fear and for her to take the little that she had to make a bread for him first and then for her and her son. Then Elijah’s reassured her in the following verses that if she obeyed the Lord based on his instructions, the jar of flour and the oil jug would not dry until the day the Lord sent rain on the land. This lady’s life changed the very moment she met Elijah. If she didn’t consciously decide to gather sticks for what she thought was her final meal for her and her son, she would have missed the abundance God had in store for her and her bloodline through her obedience.

I use this example from the story of Elijah and the widow of Zarephath because, just like her, I did not know how I would encounter God in the beauty of this flower today. I could have decided to go through a different door or been distracted by other things, but the Lord allowed my eyes to hone in on the flower as soon as I walked outside. God, will have us walk through particular doors while having others close to reveal his glory and shield us from unwarranted access to the enemy devices.

At first, I could not believe what I saw because it was sudden, but as I walked closer to it to ensure it was the right plant even though I knew it was, I was having a moment. I was still in awe and it is sad to say that this is what our faith looks like sometimes when God does the thinkable in our lives. My response was difference from the widow, she didn’t question anything the prophet told her, but she act. I on the other hand, needed a closer look even though I knew what the flower looked like when bloomed, and questioned what I was saw because it was sudden and caught me off guard. God said “THIS IS THE REALITY OF YOUR FAITH WALK AT TIMES IN ME, OUCH!”

As you see, God do things within His reasoning. Even with the most minor task, He can use it to create the most significant impact and because of my choice to take the puppy out through my front door this morning, stop, and look past the apparent work that is needed to be done in my garden, I was able to see this beautiful flower, hear from my Father and write these encouraging words today.