Is It A Weed Or A Flower?

I read a devotion today by Ann Voskamp where she described a walk through the woods with her children.  At one point her little girl asked if she could pick something.  Here is the story in Ann's own words:

 

"What do you want to pick, hon?"

"These."

I follow the direct line of her very certain index finger.

Those?

"Oh, but Shalom..." I chuckle. "Shalom, you sure you want to pick a bouquet of those?"

She's pointing to a clump of burdock.

Burrs.

The nasty hooked balls that snag you going by, Velcro to your sleeve, tangle to your hair,

knot to your pant legs, your backside, your dog.  Those.

"Shalom, that's a burdock, those prickly and stickly things that get stuck in your hair, remember?"

"But they're purple Mama." She says the word purple like it's jeweled, like it's royal and lush. 

She plucks a stem.

"I like these better than daisies, because - is white even a color, Mama?"

She yanks on another stalk.

"These are all purple." She says that word again and it's all sugar-rich on her tongue.

Shalom puts her burdock in a vase.

A plant isn't a flower but a weed only by function of its place.

Transplant the weed to the heart and it blooms into a flower.

Love is ridiculous and reconfigures everything.

All that I have deemed weeds in my life are only weeds

by function of whether I want them in this place or not.

Lord, cause me to transplant all my weeds into wild wonder simply by thanking you

 for the grace of them in this place.

 



"He called a little child to him, and placed the child among them.  And he said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven." (Matthew 18:2-3)  Could this be what Jesus was talking about?  The wonder of a child.  The humble faith to see.  That weeds can become flowers.  To be able to see past the harshness, to behold the beauty.  In order to believe that God does work all things for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.  And that purpose being to be conformed to the likeness of His Son, Jesus. (Romans 8:28-29)  The faith to see the weeds in our life as flowers because they are conforming us to be like Jesus.

 

When Jesus came to earth, he quoted Isaiah 61and told them that in him the scripture was fulfilled.  He came to proclaim good news to the poor, bind up the brokenhearted, proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners; to comfort all who mourn, to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair.  He came to turn our weeds into flowers.  He came to give spiritual sight to the spiritually blind and to bring glory to His Father. 

 

"Time can only work age into the skin." - Ann Voskamp  In our hearts of faith we can forever be young.  Pray that we will have eyes to see His grace and mercy in all things, being thankful and beholding His beauty and glory.