One of the first signs of spring’s arrival around my house is the appearance of the daffodils. Many years ago, a dear lady gave me some bulbs that she had dug up to thin out her beautiful flower beds. Some of the bulbs were daffodils, and I put them out in a flower bed on the south side of our house. I have struggled with that particular flower bed, though, (that may be a topic for another day!) and last summer I decided to dig up those bulbs and move them.
I had several bunches of daffodils in that bed, spread down the length of it, and I put that shovel to work digging up daffodil bulbs in a large circle in each place I knew the daffodils had come up each year. Then, I transplanted those bulbs to a different flower bed.
But guess what came up in that bed on the south end of my house this year? Yup! Daffodils! I was just sure that I had gotten all the bulbs out of that bed, but I was so surprised to see them again this spring -- and not just one or two here or there! I have several healthy bunches again, right where they were before. (Plus the ones I transplanted in the other bed -- they came up, too!)
Sometimes God surprises me like that. In a situation where I’ve given up and was completely convinced that the situation was a hopelessly dead end, He was still busy at work breathing life and growing things beneath the surface of the visible.
Those bulbs lie dormant for most of the year. They come up early each spring, bloom for a short time, and then seem to do nothing until the next spring comes around again.
In my work at school, it sometimes seems very much like nothing is happening. Scores don’t improve. Data shows little to no progress. Sometimes, scores even drop! Behaviors continue or re-surface. Attitudes and motivation plummet.
This happens in other areas of my life, too. All kinds of situations that seem to be dead ends - where nothing is changing that I can see - make me lose heart and become discouraged. The illness of a loved one that just can’t quite be overcome, the heartache of broken relationships that just never improve, yet another financial set-back that eats up the meager savings, the choices of a loved one that keep pulling them down paths you never wanted to see them traveling. It is difficult to remain faithful and trust God to work in these situations.
But then, I will get a little glimpse of something blooming. There’s nothing like the cheery yellow daffodil blooms to lift your spirits after a long winter! And there’s nothing quite like a little glimpse of progress in my students to keep me going, or a little glimmer of hope that God is working to answer my prayers.
And I am so very thankful that God continues to move and work in my life and in the lives of those around me, even when that work is invisible to me. You just never know where and how God is working in the lives of others around you, until suddenly, something sprouts and blooms!
And sometimes I need the reminder to be patient and wait for God to reveal the work that He’s been doing all along.
I need to remember that God is not limited to what I can see. Just because I can’t see the results, that doesn’t mean God isn’t working. God can breathe life into the most hopeless situations. But it may not be on my schedule, and it may not be where or how I expect it. I need to learn to do as Paul writes and fix my eyes “not on what is seen, but what is unseen.” I need to continue to focus on those things that make a difference for eternity. I need to have the faith to know that God is working, even when I can’t see it.
Father God, I praise You for Your unlimited power to work and redeem even the most hopeless situations in our lives! Help us to trust You more when we cannot see Your hand at work. Help us to fix our eyes on what is unseen and of eternal importance. Increase our faith in Your perfect ways and perfect timing. Help us to not lose heart, but to live a life pleasing to You and guided by Your Holy Spirit. Continue to breathe life into our dormant places that we might bloom for Your glory.
I had several bunches of daffodils in that bed, spread down the length of it, and I put that shovel to work digging up daffodil bulbs in a large circle in each place I knew the daffodils had come up each year. Then, I transplanted those bulbs to a different flower bed.
But guess what came up in that bed on the south end of my house this year? Yup! Daffodils! I was just sure that I had gotten all the bulbs out of that bed, but I was so surprised to see them again this spring -- and not just one or two here or there! I have several healthy bunches again, right where they were before. (Plus the ones I transplanted in the other bed -- they came up, too!)
Sometimes God surprises me like that. In a situation where I’ve given up and was completely convinced that the situation was a hopelessly dead end, He was still busy at work breathing life and growing things beneath the surface of the visible.
Those bulbs lie dormant for most of the year. They come up early each spring, bloom for a short time, and then seem to do nothing until the next spring comes around again.
In my work at school, it sometimes seems very much like nothing is happening. Scores don’t improve. Data shows little to no progress. Sometimes, scores even drop! Behaviors continue or re-surface. Attitudes and motivation plummet.
This happens in other areas of my life, too. All kinds of situations that seem to be dead ends - where nothing is changing that I can see - make me lose heart and become discouraged. The illness of a loved one that just can’t quite be overcome, the heartache of broken relationships that just never improve, yet another financial set-back that eats up the meager savings, the choices of a loved one that keep pulling them down paths you never wanted to see them traveling. It is difficult to remain faithful and trust God to work in these situations.
But then, I will get a little glimpse of something blooming. There’s nothing like the cheery yellow daffodil blooms to lift your spirits after a long winter! And there’s nothing quite like a little glimpse of progress in my students to keep me going, or a little glimmer of hope that God is working to answer my prayers.
And I am so very thankful that God continues to move and work in my life and in the lives of those around me, even when that work is invisible to me. You just never know where and how God is working in the lives of others around you, until suddenly, something sprouts and blooms!
And sometimes I need the reminder to be patient and wait for God to reveal the work that He’s been doing all along.
I need to remember that God is not limited to what I can see. Just because I can’t see the results, that doesn’t mean God isn’t working. God can breathe life into the most hopeless situations. But it may not be on my schedule, and it may not be where or how I expect it. I need to learn to do as Paul writes and fix my eyes “not on what is seen, but what is unseen.” I need to continue to focus on those things that make a difference for eternity. I need to have the faith to know that God is working, even when I can’t see it.
Father God, I praise You for Your unlimited power to work and redeem even the most hopeless situations in our lives! Help us to trust You more when we cannot see Your hand at work. Help us to fix our eyes on what is unseen and of eternal importance. Increase our faith in Your perfect ways and perfect timing. Help us to not lose heart, but to live a life pleasing to You and guided by Your Holy Spirit. Continue to breathe life into our dormant places that we might bloom for Your glory.
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