I love a place that I have had the privilege to hike through several times. It isn't a forest or a quaint village...it is an ash and rock covered landscape. It is a volcano on the island of Maui called Haleakala. In one part hardly any vegetation is present, but there is a uniquely beautiful plant called the silversword. It is called the "flower of patience". I got to see one in full bloom and several that had just bloomed and were covered in fading flowers. I thought they were hauntingly gorgeous and looked closely and then just walked by. What I didn't know was that the silversword will grow in this desolate area for 20 to 50 years and then bloom with up to hundreds of flower heads. And it will only do it once in its lifetime. They say that it will stay beautiful for seven days, scattering seeds and then will die. I regret that I didn't realize what I was looking at and the gift of being able to see the "flower of patience" in its fullness after so many years. I have thought about that and then wondered how many times I have looked and seen the goodness of God and his gifts and love and beauty...and nodded my head and walked on by. The Bible tells us that every good and perfect gift comes down from the Father who created all the lights in the heavens. It was and is precious that I am allowed to see and experience him and his creation. And maybe the lesson is to not take what God has given you and me and assume that it will always be like that. And that you can walk on by and then some other time come back and enjoy that time, that event or that person again. God has created everything beautiful for its own time. Ask God today to open your eyes to the beauty of the creation all around you and to the one who has brought it into being. Don't take anything today for granted, but receive it with thanksgiving to the God who will bring it to you today as the original "flower of patience". Here's our Bible verse for today...
James 1:17-18 Every good and perfect gift comes down from the Father who created all the lights in the heavens. He is always the same and never makes dark shadows by changing. (18) He wanted us to be his own special people, and so he sent the true message to give us new birth.
Remember I'm praying for you, PJ
James 1:17-18 Every good and perfect gift comes down from the Father who created all the lights in the heavens. He is always the same and never makes dark shadows by changing. (18) He wanted us to be his own special people, and so he sent the true message to give us new birth.
Remember I'm praying for you, PJ