"Bloom Where You Are Planted"

A mother never likes to see their child hurting, no matter how old that child is.  Today is one of those days for me.  My daughter (www.charyssehesse.com), who is way too far from me, is hurting and there is no way for me to wrap my arms around her and comfort her.  It rips my heart out to not be there for her.  I could argue with God all day long about why we are still in Texas.  But, I know that arguing with Him about that is a waste of my time and is really an insult to the relationship I have with Him.

At Christmas, we pulled out a jigsaw puzzle for the family to work on.  It was a picture of an oil painting.  If you’ve ever done one, you will know that they are harder than those that are photographs.  Because it is made from brush strokes, the shading or the color can change when you least expect it.  I warned everyone not to get their minds set on the colors of the piece they are looking for, but to stay focused more on the shape of the pieces.  In spite of my warning, there were multiple complaints that surely there must be some missing pieces. It comes to mind how similar our lives are to this puzzle.

My life, your life, Charysse’s life, are all a unique work of art being painted by the Master.  The Master knows the image He is painting because He conceived of it before it began and promises He will complete it.  From our perspective, the complete picture is unknown to us.  When you are putting together a puzzle, isn’t it great when you get on a roll and a bunch of pieces fall into place?  As in life, those are mountain top experiences when you can see the pieces of your life falling into place and making sense.  It’s so satisfying because you can see the bigger picture, you can see how these pieces fit.  I’ve had times like that in my life and boy does it feel good. But, does anyone live there all the time?  I don’t think so.  As in puzzles, you can stare at the pieces or circumstances of your life and still not see how they fit.   Why are these pieces here?  Or, you may even think that surely these pieces don’t belong to your puzzle because you can’t connect them.   The Bible reminds us that  (I Cor 13:12)  “Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known”.  Events, circumstances, people, sickness, etc, and all things good and bad are all going to be a part of our lives.  If they are in your life, they fit.  They are meant to become a part of the painting of our life.

I love this poem, I first read as a teen.  It is a perspective I hardily embrace.

God hath not promised skies always blue, flower -strewn pathways all our lives through. God hath not promised sun without rain,  joy without sorrow, peace without pain. But God hath promised strength for the day, rest for the labor, light for the way.  Grace for the trials, help from above, unfailing sympathy, undying love.

We all know it is true. We are not going to escape tough times, just because we trust in God.  The Bible says in Romans 8:29-30 (MSG); “God knew what he was doing from the very beginning. He decided from the outset to shape the lives of those who love him along the same lines as the life of his Son. … After God made that decision of what his children should be like, he followed it up by calling people by name. After he called them by name, he set them on a solid basis with himself. And then, after getting them established, he stayed with them to the end, gloriously completing what he had begun.”  There it is.  He knows us.  He has called us by name.  And, He promises to take every puzzle piece in our life and work it into a beautiful and positive part of our life’s picture.  He promises to be with us to the end, completing what He has begun.  God’s plan for us is to make us Christ-like.  First and foremost, His intent is to transform us into His likeness.  So, we ask again, how this piece fits into our life’s picture?  We may not know until we see Him face to face, but we can be assured, that everyday we walk with Him, His intention is to be with us in every step of the way, making us the person whom He means us to be.  As we become Christ-like, we become an extension of Himself here on this earth to do His good work.

II Cor 1:3-6  3″Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, 4who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God. 5For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows. 6If we are distressed, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we suffer.”  Scripture is telling us that just as Christ suffered, we too will suffer in this life.  When we do, we learn how to comfort others going through the same type of thing.  It seems to all point to the same thing.  We are here to represent God to our world.  Not to serve ourselves. Not to be comfortable. We are here to learn to truly trust God. This means to trust that what has come into our life, is not there to destroy us.  Every day, it’s a choice, to give God back the circumstances of our life that just don’t seem to fit.   That is how the  picture of our life becomes the beautiful masterpiece, the Master planned.

“Through it all!  Through it all, I’ve learned to trust in Jesus. I’ve learned to trust in God. I’ve learned to depend up on His word.”  His word is the only way I know to keep my perspective and trust where it needs to be when life’s troubles are overwhelming me.  This is what I pray for you, my daughter.  Know that God knows you.  He knows everything about you.  And He will give you the strength you need for today.  Don’t worry about tomorrow, because tomorrow, He will then give you the strength you need for that day.  He is guiding you.  All your days have been ordained before you were born.  He is there for you and with you, always.

Psalm 139:1-18 (NIV)

1 O LORD, you have searched me and you know me.

2 You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar.

3 You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways.

4 Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, O LORD.

5 You hem me in—behind and before;  you have laid your hand upon me.

6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain.

7 Where can I go from your Spirit?  Where can I flee from your presence?

8 If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.

9 If I rise on the wings of the dawn,  if I settle on the far side of the sea,

10 even there your hand will guide me,  your right hand will hold me fast.

11 If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,”

12 even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you.

13 For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.

14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.

15 My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place.  When I was woven together in the depths of the earth,

16 your eyes saw my unformed body.  All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.

17 How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them!

18 Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand. When I awake, I am still with you.