Sermon
Lanier Christian Church
May 8, 2016
Bloom Where You’re Planted
Isaiah 35
Real Mothers
Real Mothers don't eat quiche; they don't have time to make it.
Real Mothers know that their kitchen utensils are probably in the sandbox.
Real Mothers often have sticky floors, filthy ovens and happy kids.
Real Mothers know that dried playdough doesn't come out of shag carpets.
Real Mothers don't want to know what the vacuum just sucked up.
Real Mothers sometimes ask "why me?" and get their answer when a little voice says,
"because I love you best".
Real Mothers know that a child's growth is not measured by height or years or grade . . .
it is marked by the progression of Mama to Mommy to Mom.
-Author Unknown
On this Mother’s Day, I’m grateful for the love, encouragement and example of Christian moms. For those of us blessed to have Godly mothers, I want to remind you today that we are among those who have received one of life’s greatest treasures, because we have loving mothers.
That love carries us through valleys and struggles and difficult challenges and all of life's circumstances.
How is that you might ask? Well, if you’re in one of those spots where you wonder if anyone else understands, or it seems as if nobody cares, or perhaps you are feeling that no one loves you…for those who have had Christ loving moms … at such times we know that our mom’s understanding, care and love is there - even when nobody else’s is. Even for those of you whose mom has received her heavenly reward, the lasting legacy of love and influence that she left you is like a permanent mark on your life. It never leaves.
So today, I praise God for loving moms who gave their lives to Christ first, then loved and provided for their children through His strength that worked within them.
Our church ladies have just returned from a wonderful retreat together this weekend. Their theme was: “Bloom where you’re planted.” I like that. Last Friday that phrase got stuck in my head as I was preparing my sermon and I realized that this is a truth we should all abide by.
READ ISAIAH 35
No matter where we are in life, God wants us to bloom where we are. To shine His glory where we are. As Isaiah said: “to rejoice and blossom.”
The previous chapter, chapter 34, of Isaiah is filled with doom and gloom. God is fed up with the sin of every nation including that of Israel and Judah, his own people. What was once beautiful is now turning to ruins. The Assyrian army is about to invade Israel. Years after that, Babylon will lay waste to the land. So, here in Isaiah 35, the prophet is reminding the people of God that the gloom will one day end… that there is coming a day when beauty will return to the land. There is coming a day when the desert will bloom with flowers. There is coming a day when the blind will see. There is coming a day when peace will rule. There is coming a day when singing and rejoicing will return.
So what does this have to do with mothers…or any of us for that matter?
Are there any mothers here today who have struggled through tough times? Are there any mothers, or any of us as children, who have felt like they were in the middle of a desert land and you thirsted for joy and peace? If you are planted in the middle of one of those desert like situations right now, God will help you to bloom where you are planted. He will help you to glow in His splendor right where you are.
Are there any mothers here today who have feeble hands and feeble knees? Do you experience times where you think you can’t carry on another day? Do you have moments where fear sets in and seems to grip your soul?
Isaiah reminds us: “Be strong, do not fear, your God will come…” (Is. 35:4) Despite your fear, even through your weakness, God will help you to bloom where you are planted. You can shine for Him, you can rejoice greatly despite the circumstances.
Are there mothers here today who battle health limitations? Your hearing is not what it used to be. Your eyesight is failing. If Fred Astaire or one of the Dancing with the Stars dancers asked you to dance, would you refuse because you feel like you’d break something?
I want you to know…There is coming a day when every eye will see and every ear will hear and everybody will dance for joy… for the healer, our redeemer will make all things new. But, in the meantime we can bloom where we’re planted. We can shine for Him, even if the steps are slower, even if the vision is weaker, because we know there is joy that awaits.
Are there any mothers here today who have cried for their children? Are there any mothers here today who have ached as they’ve watched their children suffer? Have you experienced injustice when life didn’t seem fair? Still, you can bloom where you’re planted. You can shine for Him. You can burst into bloom and glow with the presence of our Savior, because there is justice that awaits. There is coming a day when wickedness will be no more and nothing harmful will ever attack us, or our children.
For every flower that is trampled on, it will one day return with greater splendor than before.
Yes, all of us as believers can bloom where we’re planted. We can bear fruit now. We can offer praise now. We can sing now. Not because all is right with the world. But, because such praise will point to the day when all things will be made new. When joy will be the crown we wear every day. When gladness and joy will overtake every sorrow, and sighing and sadness will flee away. (Isaiah 35:10)
Isaiah 35:10 reminds us: "Those the Lord has rescued will return. They will enter Zion with singing; everlasting joy will crown their heads. Gladness and joy will overtake them, and sorrow and sighing will flee away."
We can bloom where we’re planted. We can shine for Him, because we know our Redeemer lives and that one day there will be no more death, or sorrow or crying.
The living water of our Lord Jesus Christ can provide enough nourishment in the garden of your life to enable you to bloom where you are planted, to shine for Him…to be a beautiful flower despite the circumstances.
There is one bloom on our hibiscus plant on our deck. It’s beautiful. My attention is drawn to the bloom. Not the pot, not the greenery, not the little ants crawling nearby. But, the bloom and it’s beauty. You can bloom where you’re planted, no matter the circumstances, and people will see the splendor of the Lord at work in you. And sometimes you may be the only bloom that people see.
Jesus said as recorded in Matthew 5:16:
“In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.”
In the same way, when we bloom where we’re planted, others praise the Lord for the beauty they see. When I was growing up we used to sing a hymn at church entitled “The Beauty of Jesus.”
The Beauty of Jesus - by Tom M. Jones
Let the beauty of Jesus be seen in me,
All His wonderful passion and purity;
O Thou Spirit divine, May I truly be Thine
Till the beauty of Jesus be seen in me.
Isn’t that what Jesus wants for each of us? To bloom where we’re planted. To allow HIS beauty to be seen in us. No matter where we are, no matter the circumstances we may find ourselves in, we should desire God to work in our lives such that the beauty of Jesus is seen in all that we do.
Back to the hibiscus plant on our back deck; That beautiful bloom doesn’t show itself until the sun shines on it everyday. It’s closed until the sun’s brightness and warmth strikes it. That’s true for us too. Until Jesus shines on us, we cannot shine for Him. Until He has bloomed in our hearts we cannot blossom for Him.
We all know that not every situation is ideal in life. There are many times where we find ourselves not where we want to be. It’s at times like that where we should especially bloom where we’re planted! And sometimes that's harder than new doors, big changes and fresh starts.
I took a walk last Friday morning. I didn’t know what I was going to say for today. I had this “bloom where you’re planted” thought swimming in my head and I just said: “Lord, speak and I’ll listen. Help me know what to say to your people on Sunday.”
Here’s how God answered. (Picture) It’s a flower. It’s a pansy. It’s a flower that bloomed where it was planted… and it just happened to be planted in a crack in the asphalt pavement of our subdivision road. Yep, right there on Lakeshore Circle were not one, but three pansies growing in a crack in the road.
And I paused as I looked upon this blooming flower. And I thought: “Thank you God.” How often I have complained because I was in a situation that was less than ideal. How often I have felt alone wondering how I could possibly praise you in this situation. How often I have thought that there was no way God could be glorified in this circumstance.
And yet, here I was on Friday, with my eyes drawn not to the flowers in the neighbor’s yard, not to the garden of a variety of beautiful flowers and shrubs nearby, but to the one bloom that had the courage to bloom where it was planted, in the least likely of places. But it was glowing brightly in all its morning glory!
Just think, in that desert land, on that lonely road, in the least likeliest of places, you may be the only bloom that people see. You may be the only hope that people are looking for. You may be the only joy that someone is seeking. You may be the only light shining in the darkness. You may be the only flower anywhere in sight. You can make anywhere a holy place for God...so bloom where you're planted!
So, bloom where you are planted and allow others to see, as Isaiah said: “the glory of the Lord and the splendor of our God.”
Prayer
by David Simpson
