I travel highway 12, between two little towns several times a month, sometimes several times a week. I had no idea that my little part time job would involve so much travel, but there I am, running up and down the road. It is a fairly remote road, so I don’t always see a lot of traffic on it. Many parts of the drive are very scenic and beautiful, but it has its stretches of dull, boring brown.
Almost over night, a funny little thing happened that caught and held my attention. It could not have been more than a week since the last time I passed this stretch of desolate brown on my way to Reserve, but out of the corner of my eye as I whizzed past (I must have been running late) one morning, I saw it. It was a patch of green foliage about the size of a basketball, right on the edge of the pavement, where the asphalt abruptly turned to dust. This little clump of dark green leaves held the most beautiful array of bright purple flowers I have seen. My eyes and mind caught the snapshot, that I reviewed the rest of the way to town, and my spirit was lifted. I took it as a personal present from the Lord and continued my day.
On the way home, I looked for the little clump again, this time on the other side of the road than I was, and again found it, bright and cheery in the midst of drab. Some of you will know from my brief description what this plant is, and will probably inform me that it is a native weed. For the past several weeks, however, it has cheered my trip to Reserve many times over, just growing there, all by itself in the midst of nothing.
As with most things, the Lord has a lesson in it all for us. I was thinking of this clump of purple flowers that brought such uplift to me on my otherwise tedious trips, and the Lord impressed me that that is how His children are to be in this world. They are to be His shining lights and bright moments in the world. We are to be as a breath of God’s fresh air to a world that is choking on the pollution of Satan and “the world”. We are planted where we are for His reasons.
When I think of the flat, dry, ho-hum part of the highway, I wonder what would ever grow there, and who would ever think to plant something pretty there. God would. He puts things where He does for those who are willing to look and see Him, and recognize His touch to bring His cheer into their lives. Similarly, He plants us- His people- in different parts of the earth and in different sectors of society to be a bright spot for Him in someone else’s life. I imagine that if that plant had thoughts about it, the plant would say, “Who wants to be out here all by itself, in the middle of nothingness… and by the side of a dangerous road at that! I need to be in a beautiful garden!” But God knows that the travelers of that highway need that purple flower right where it is. He knows that the people we see and encounter today need our presence, our smile, our kind and blessing ways right where we are.
We may be in isolated country, with not much around us, like my little purple flowers. We may be in a huge flower garden, that receives many spectators, and add our own unique color and scent to the array. Wherever we are, we can be confident that the Lord has us there, and if we can just “bloom where we are planted” as the saying goes, we will be OK.
The Lord may have you where you are to be the happy and cheerful face to your coworkers, the friendly customer at your local grocery store, the kind neighbor who always waves, or whatever you are for Him at the time and place you are at. You may not be able to give a sermon every day, or lead someone to the Lord every time you go out, but you can bring glory to the Lord just by living your life for Jesus right out loud through your actions.
My little purple flower did not have to fly around or jump up and down and make a big show. It just steadily grew and bloomed at the edge of the highway, day after day, unfolding its beautiful purple flowers to the world. It brought cheer to me, and glory to the Lord who created us both. Likewise, we children of the Lord are the only hope for those around us to bring cheer in the middle of a Life- less and futile world, and glory to the Lord. Jesus said that He came to give Life, and that, abundantly. We are what is left of Him physically in this world. If we are to point others to Life in Him, we have to have His Life and cheer in us- in our attitudes, in our appearance and in our interactions with others.
Every time I pass my little purple flowers, as I have now affectionately termed them, I am reminded and challenged to be a purple flower to someone in my path this day. Let’s make a conscious effort in the days ahead to not only notice and rejoice in the purple flowers that the Lord puts in our way to brighten it, but to also be a purple flower to those who share our path. The Lord put us right where we are, whether in the dessert or the lush green, or somewhere in between. He knows what we need. He knows who needs us. Whatever road we are on, let’s bloom.