Have you ever looked at your life and thought, “No one would ever be inspired by me?”
This post is for the not-quite-right roses and failed daylilies. Take encouragement from my garden and a prophet who felt as you do.
In Australia, it’s wintertime. In some parts of the world, winter means no flowers, but I get flowers year-around in Melbourne. Some of them thrive like camellias, but some of them are blooming out of season.
I’m sure you’ve probably seen a flower or two out of season. But have you ever seen a summer rose try to bloom in winter? It can be deformed, the colour faded or blotchy. Sometimes, they are brown around the edges, or in the case below, something weird is growing on the petal. They aren’t perfect like a summer rose.
Now, I look at that bud and see the beautiful, vibrant colour. But we can look at our own lives and fail to see the colour, the hope we bring to others. All we can see is that ugly thing growing on one of our petals. But there is something important to remember here.
Roses aren’t supposed to bloom in winter.
When the weather is ugly, the sky hung low with grey clouds, and the air frigid, the sight of a rose in winter lifts my spirits. Not because it’s perfect but because it persevered. It wasn’t meant to be there, but there it is, a spot of beauty and hope in a sea of bleakness.
Roses in winter flood my heart with joy.
So, if all you can see is the early frost which stole your bloom, or the deformity you can’t take your eyes off of, take some encouragement from my garden.
Even if you can’t see it, others look at you and are inspired. We see what you do not.
Now, maybe you gave a polite smile and thought, How nice. Some people actually look half decent as a bud.
But I never bloomed. I’m a failure.
Well, we aren’t done with my garden yet. You see, I have another flower which tries to bloom in winter. And the key word of that sentence is TRIES.
Have you ever seen a daylily try to bloom in winter?
The bud never develops. They are 1/3 (if that) the size they should be. The vibrant colours never arrive. It barely cracks open to crumble, brown, and die.
My daylilies may bud in winter, but they never, ever bloom.
Yet, despite the fact I know what will happen, my heart still jolts with joy at the sight of buds on my daylilies. I rush over and admire them. Smile and wish them well. Check on them every few days, and even when they fail, I’m still thankful they tried.
My daylilies make me smile even though they never ‘become’ anything.
Do you worry you are a complete and utter failure? Can you only see the ‘spots’ on yourself?
Please be encouraged not-quite-right roses and failed daylilies. You still have the ability to flood another person’s heart with joy and hope, even if you never ‘make it’. Keep going. There are people out there who think you are something special to be admired, and even more so, God does.
Isaiah was feeling like a failure in Isaiah 49, “I have laboured in vain, I have spent my strength for nought,” he said in verse four. Then God gave him this message.
Yet shall I be glorious in the eyes of the Lord.’ Is. 49:5 KJV
Isaiah’s ministry wasn’t ‘blooming,’ but he took comfort in the knowledge that God counted him glorious. And so shall you be glorious.
Whether you’ve got spots or never bloomed at all, God doesn’t measure success like the world. People don’t even measure success like we think they do. (I’m happy even though my daylilies don’t bloom!)
You can amaze someone today and not even know it. So, keep shining. Stop comparing yourself to someone else, and just be you. You are glorious in the eyes of the Lord.
