While spring arrived officially almost one month ago, until recently my gardens only held a faint promise of their yearly beauty. Enjoying a rich palette of gorgeous color over the past week, a thought occurred to me: “Spring is here, but will your faith bloom?”
Having written about sowing seeds of faith, I now wondered when I might see those seeds of faith blooming in my spiritual garden.
Often, we work preparing, cultivating, and weathering adversity in our faith journey, but when do we stop and enjoy watching our faith bloom?
Tending the gardens on our large property involves much often tedious work or weeding, fertilizing, and all forms of nurturing the various plants. But the real Joy comes when we can feast our eyes on the seasonal beauty which results.
“Faithfulness springs forth from the earth, and righteousness looks down from heaven.”
So, too, with our labor in sowing and nurturing the seeds of faith planted in our spiritual gardens. There comes a time for beholding the beauty of faithfulness blooming in our lives.
Using an acrostic with the word, “BLOOM”, consider these five ways we behold faith bloom in our lives.
B– Brave. Notice areas where your faith has pushed you outside your comfort zone. What amazes me most about so many blooms in spring, is the odd and harsh places they continue to bloom! Brave, fragile blossoms of faith fearlessly reaching for the Son in hostile places glorifies God (Isaiah 35:1)
L- Light. While all the blooms in my garden display beauty, their beauty becomes more exquisite in the glorious rays of the sun. Notice how the glory of God’s Light shows forth the strength of your faith for each harsh season of darkness. (Ephesians 5:8)
O- Open. Even budding flowers boast a delicate loveliness, but their fill splendor is revealed when they open fully in due time. Notice how your faith has progressed from the mere budding of initial salvation faith to the full splendor of a tested faith. (1 Peter 1:7)
O- Outward. I love how the blooms in my garden all reach outward, their delicate petals offering their Joy for all to see and delight in. Notice how as your faith blooms, it likewise reaches outward to others to encourage and welcome all into the Joy of the Lord. (Philemon 1:6)
M- Maturity. One thing the flowers in my garden have shown me in a new way this year is, they become more beautiful as they mature. So it is with your faith. Notice the signs of a blooming faith through the maturity of faith which acts on its grounded beliefs and displays the fruit of the Spirit. (Galatians 5:22-23)
Delighting in the season of spring moving through my gardens bringing new life after the harsh, cold, darkness of winter also reminds me of God’s faithfulness to me in those winter seasons of my life.
What a blessing and strengthening of soul to also notice how God has nurtured His gift of faith to me at salvation through the dry, dark and hostile winters of suffering.
Bringing forth the splendor of a faith which blooms bravely in harsh realities, showing forth the Light of God’s own faithfulness openly and outwardly touching the lives of others with the fruit of His own Spirit.
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Donna, I enjoy acrostics and bloom is a lovely one to appreciate God’s work in our lives.
Thank you, Debbie, for your kind words. I love acrostics too and had so much fun with this one!
Thanks for sharing these simple but powerful truth’s, Donna. Taking time to reflect on all they ways God has “bloomed” our faith is rejoicing in His promises! God wants us to see how He is working and growing in our lives, as that also grows our faith more!
Lynn I think it is so important we take time to see how our faith is blooming, especially after passing through seasons of trial!
You know this>>”There comes a time for beholding the beauty of faithfulness blooming in our lives” is a wonderful statement. So true, I think sometimes we miss our blooming faith with the chaos of the world or our lives, that when we pause to reflect on how much we’ve bloomed in Christ our growth sometimes takes us by surprise. The acrostic bloom is so helpful.
Visiting today from Joanne’s
Paula, so blessed to have you stop by today! I couldn’t agree more, I was stunned at the way my faith had grown through a season of trial, especially when I felt so weak and unproductive!
This was just beautiful, Donna, and timely! I have been noticing the blooms lately. They seemed to begin happening all of a sudden. You have reminded me that we are not to grow weary or give up, for we will reap a harvest in due time. This is true in our gardens and our lives 🙂 May we know The Gardener is faithful!
Thank you, Joanne. I had such fun with it. God opened my eyes to these beautiful truths in such a simple way, I just had to share!
Your acrostic using the Spring word BLOOM, applied to our faith and spiritual journey is so fitting . Thank you for your awareness and wisdom in your putting “pen to paper “ .
Margie, my sweet friend, thank you for your kind words. I had fun making the acrostic from a few simple truths God spoke to me one afternoon as I enjoyed all of the blooms around me!
Oh Donna, you know I love a good gardening metaphor, and you have definitely provided one here. 🙂 It’s so encouraging to remember that God is still working in the winter seasons of life, and His activity produces greater blooms when spring finally comes. Hugs, friend.
Thank you, Lois, I quite stumbled upon it myself! I was just enjoying time with the Lord and He opened my eyes to these simple but powerful truths!