The most important growth in our lives can happen at the most unexpected times. I find that when I am really trying to get it right, to learn what is next, to strive toward the place where I feel I should go that I don’t get very far. Instead, it seems that at the times when I stumble the hardest, struggle the deepest, and fall over and over that I grow. It is in my times of difficulty that I learn the most important lessons. It is in those times of failure that I find the most success. It doesn’t seem to make sense.
That’s what I see when I watch flowers bloom so beautifully in the water. I love flowers. I enjoy planting and watching them grow and bloom. My favorite is when they come back out the next year. It is like an unexpected surprise when they sprout up and smile. But these flowers in the water really do amaze me. They grow and bloom and flourish in the middle of a pool of water. They don’t get too much water, even though they live right in the middle of an environment that would drown other flowers. They get the nutrients they need even though the soil is almost nonexistent. They blossom in an otherwise harsh cruel world for flowers.
Now, I do understand they are made this way. They are made to survive and bloom there. But how fascinating is it that God made flowers to bloom in an environment that is adverse to other flowers. How awesome is it that they spring up the most beautiful colors in the middle of the unexpected.
For me, that is a reminder that God can cause us to flourish in those difficult, otherwise harsh environments too. We just might be made to bloom in the vast expanse where others would seem to waste away. We just might find ourselves growing when we should be beat down. May you grow, flourish and bloom wherever you may find yourself today.
Focus Scripture:
Psalm 72 (Select Verses)
12 For he delivers the needy when they call,
the poor and those who have no helper.
13 He has pity on the weak and the needy,
and saves the lives of the needy.
14 From oppression and violence he redeems their life;
and precious is their blood in his sight.
16 May there be abundance of grain in the land;
may it wave on the tops of the mountains;
may its fruit be like Lebanon;
and may people blossom in the cities
like the grass of the field.
17 May his name endure forever,
his fame continue as long as the sun.
May all nations be blessed in him;[c]
may they pronounce him happy.
18 Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel,
who alone does wondrous things.
19 Blessed be his glorious name forever;
may his glory fill the whole earth.
Amen and Amen.
SEEING THE EXTRAORDINARY 
Just what I needed today.
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