He shouldn't have even been out of the house. I always told him to let me know if he needs to go outside. Looking for him was unfruitful and my heart quickened when my calls to him went unanswered.
Then I hear his sweet three year old voice say, "Yes Mom?" I didn't know whether to hug him or spank him. When my eyes caught sight of his small frame in blue corduroy jeans, I went on and on about being careful and how I didn't want anything bad to happen to him, and if he's not where I think he is there's no way I can protect him...yada yada yada. He stood there and took it all and after my emotional dumping on this little guy, he looks up at me and says, "But I picked you some flowers," extending his hand holding a bouquet of dainty yellow petals of sunshine. Well, of course, I was silenced by his beautiful brown eyes and generous spirit. I couldn't help but scoop him up in a hug. To think he saw these flowers from afar and left the boundary of our house to head outside without any thought of danger to himself or scolding from me. I was on his mind. Those flowers, for momma. And he was gone.
It made me think about another Son. Who, with His eye on a blessing for those close to His heart, left the safety of His home in the quest to deliver that blessing. That Son is Jesus. The blessing is eternal life and we are the object of His affection. We were on His mind. Eternal life, for the world. And He was gone.
Heaven remorseful for His absence, earth rejecting of His presence.
When Jeremiah handed me the offering that melted my heart, I couldn't tell him they were weeds. All he knew is that they were beautiful and that I love beautiful flowers. Nothing else in that moment was of any consequence. How wonderful this little one, while looking at weeds, saw flowers. It takes a trained eye, to find a flower in a weed. It was the eyesight of Jesus as well, as He looked upon all of humanity. I pray God sharpen my vision to seek out and find flowers within the weeds.
How about you? Do you find it easy to look past the weed-like characteristics in others? Or, does it present itself as a challenge to your dispensation of grace? Perhaps it's that personality that overtakes the otherwise fair garden of conversation. Or, maybe it's that person who is troublesome, deeply-rooted in bitterness that seems to choke the good and steal the fight out of those around them.
Looking inward, do we possess any qualities similar to those of weeds? I know I do. It was in that snarky remark I made when my husband requested my help in something I didn't want to do. Yes, and all while looking like "dainty yellow petals of sunshine". I remember, it was in that attitude of my heart when God's Word admonished I release that sin of pride. "I'm not prideful," I thought, with not one iota of humility. Oh, the irony. I bless the name of the Lord for seeing the good in me, the flowers within the weed of my sinful nature. Oh to praise Him, for the cost He paid to prune and nurture the beauty that could be, to firmly plant me within the soil of His goodness, to water me with the washing of His word, and to grow me more and more into His likeness. He is the Master Planter!
Am I still a weed? Sometimes, but I know that my Father sees me in all the potential that is God-given. As with you too, my friend. My prayer is that God train our eyes to find the flowers in the weeds in others, much like He's seen the flowers in us.
"But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." Romans 5:8 (NKJV)
This is the message we take to the NATIONS. God chose US. With all our weed likenesses. His mercy so rich and free poured out upon a dying humanity. We ask God to train our eyes to see the overlooked, to love the unloved, to move with softness toward those who are abrasive, and to find flowers in the weeds. Yes, friends, find the flowers in weeds.