"The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them; and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose. It shall blossom abundantly and rejoice even with joy and singing:..."
Isaiah 35: 1-2a
My step-mother gave me a rooted branch of her old-timey rose bush several years ago. Hubby dug a huge hole and filled it with rich dirt and fertilizer and set it out for me. It has grown and grown and now produces lush red blooms most of the summer. This year it was full of blooms in the early summer. Then it stopped for a while but now it's blooming again. But not uniformly. It has gorgeous groups of blooms....in places. Other places are bare and ugly.I took this close-up picture of some of the roses. Beautiful and lush! It LOOKS perfect from this angle.
But if you look at the whole picture, you can see that there is something wrong with the rosebush. It needs attention. It needs some pruning. It needs spraying to kill some parasites feeding on it.
My life is like this rose bush. It needs attention. I need to take better care of both my physical and spiritual life. My life needs pruning. I need to weed out some things that are crowding out the more needful things in my life. My life needs to be rid of sins that feed on my spirit like parasites.
In my flesh I want to be able to focus people's attention on the blooming parts of my life and hope that they don't see the big picture....all the things that are wrong with me! But in my spirit I know that they need to see the whole "bush"! They need to see that I have struggles, fears, and failures but that with attention, care, and pruning I can have more blooms that will perhaps fill in the bare spots I have now. But only with God working in my life will this ever happen.
Marilyn
12 comments:
Ouch, my friend. You have stepped on my toes. I know that my life likely needs some pruning too. Most lives do. I needed that reminder. Thank you for speaking truth.
Leah
Well spoken word and one that I really need right now!
I love how you brought that all together from a simple picture of your beautiful blooms.
I desire to let God prune me and then grow mr more abundantly for Him!
That Miss Marilyn is where I was at when writing, God's own special treasure.
You wrote a great writing my Friend.
Lovingly,
Yolanda
Amen!
It may not be blooming in every spot, but where it is, the blossoms are sure beautiful!
Hopefully that's how we are too! Even when one part isn't quite right, there are still some beautiful blossoms! I know right now, I have some areas that are all thorn and NO roses!
Marilyn,
Thanks for visiting my blog! I knew you & Liesa had finally gotten together, so I "recognized" you instantly!
I think this post of yours perfectly complements my post today...seems the Lord is speaking the same message to some of us right now!
Thanks for the illustration. I'm so glad He's merciful to show us the whole picture, that we might call on Him to prune us!
Blessings,
Em
Very Good! I also read your article to my husand and showed him the pictures. He said "it (speaking of the rose bush ) looks kind of like ours".
I got mine as a cutting as well (from Mother's rose bush) and it needs better care just like my life does. However, each takes work and no matter how much we like things nice and beautiful we just don't like to put forth the effort. "The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak."(Matthew 26: 41-b ) And oh, how it does show.
I very much enjoyed the article and thanks as always. Hope you are having a great day and may God bless you. The investment of your
time and talents for Him are immeasurable.
Your friend,
Peggy
No matter how beautiful the bloom, we all have areas of our lives that need pruning, fertilizing, tending to. Lord may our hearts be sensitive to these areas.
Blessings ~ Lisa
Great illustration!! Pictures really do say a thousand words sometimes don't they!! Glad to be back to your blog again! We're gearing up to start first grade, so say a prayer please!! Blessings, Jill
I like this!
Elsie
I think all of your life is beautiful my friend, but I know what you mean. Thanks for being so real and 'blooming' for His glory.
Hugs,
Joy
Hmm...looking at my roses right now! I see some spent flowers that I need to dead head! I understand exactly where you are coming from. Thank you for this ministering post!!
Hugs!
Susan
I just love how you see the world around you and reflect upon them and relate them to yourself and illustrate all this with beautiful words to accompany your feelings. As a writer it inspires me! As a fellow believer it inspires me! And like the rose bush we all have thorns...we are beauitul and always blossoming in different areas...we all need attention...we are God's creation.
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