Bloom

[God] has planted eternity in the human heart…. – Ecclesiastes 3:11

I saw them through the clear, cold water of the lake in early spring. Water lilies. They rose like dreamers from the murky depths. I could almost hear them yearning to reach the surface, groaning for the warmth of the sun, aching to bloom into the fullness of all that they were created to be.

I saw myself in those water lilies. Deep in my soul I ache to be more than I am, sensing somehow that I have not yet bloomed into the fullness of all that God created me to be. St. Paul says that’s true for all of us, and all of creation, “For we know that all creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. And we believers also groan…”. (Romans 8:22-23)

I’m learning to nurture that desire. Not to deny it or fearfully repress it. Not to deaden it with anything less than that which is of the Spirit. I want to sink my roots deep and strain upward to touch the warm brilliance of God. And bloom.

So, take a walk today. Notice all that grows and reaches for the sun. Drink in the fragrance and the beauty. See yourself in it. And see God in it all.

Jeff Marian serves as lead pastor at Prince of Peace Lutheran Church in Burnsville, MN