On a summer walk with my family, we veered off the trail and did a little walking through the bush. I looked down and observed that the entire forest floor was covered in growth. Mostly weeds.
If you’ve ever planted a garden, you know that weeds grow easily.
It occurred to me standing in that bush how jealous I was of the weeds.
They do not need the perfect conditions to thrive. Nobody had to truck in the perfect soil mixture for the forest floor. Nobody came by to water them, or fertilize them. Yet they completely thrived.
I look at my garden each summer, and it looks obvious that even when I try my hardest to grow things intentionally, the weeds always do better. Everything else has dried up, rotted away or some combination of all of this.
However, I often contemplate how my circumstances aren’t ideal for me to grow and thrive in the same way.
At the start of 2021 I was debating embarking on a 20 week course. It intimidated me to know that I had no idea what lay ahead for 2021. Would it be in-person? On Zoom? I considered that it would make more sense to go ahead and do it next year when things had to be more stable and normal.
Oh how I am glad I didn’t wait for that. That day certainly hasn’t come.
There will always be conditions that aren’t ideal for growth.
I do not want to be like the temperamental vegetables in my garden that can’t grow without absolutely perfect circumstances.
The secret to the weeds survival? It can adapt to the circumstances around it. They don’t wait for the ideal situation to grow. They survive in everything.
I am talking about weeds so far, but lets remember that the only difference between a weed and a wildflower is your perspective.
No matter the soil we’re throw into, we need to grow like we are weeds, but we need to be confident like wildflowers.
“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life…. See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? (Matthew 6:28-29)
Can we see the way God cares for the wildflowers and trust that God can take care of them, He will take care of us also?
Nevertheless, I went ahead with my course (which ended up being on zoom, in person and around a fire pit in a parking lot) and have realized that I do not need my situation to be perfect. That won’t happen in 2022…2023…or 2024. You get the idea.
There is no better time than now to adapt to what is around us. God has every day of your life written in his book and no circumstances are a surprise to Him. He is able to allow you to thrive right now.
“Who knows if perhaps you were made Queen for such a time as this?” (Esther 4:14)
As you look ahead to 2022, do not be disappointed when there aren’t perfect circumstances yet again.
You, my Queen, are a wildflower! Grow like one! You can survive in less than ideal circumstances. You do not have to rot and whither. Bring beauty to wherever you are. Don’t wait for a perfectly tended garden to grow. Adapt and grow in the less than perfect circumstances. That is all there will ever be.
God has shown us just how he cares for the wildflowers, and how much more he will care for us.
After all, it is truly the wild things that really fill this world with life.
So go and grow like a weed!
