She was stunned when she first came across it — a beautiful,
delicate, small flower pushing through the hard earth. The Creator said it
represented her heart. He had warned her she would feel pain as it grew, but
she would experience deep joy as well.
Her Creator — whose eyes were continuously on her — smiled
with joy when He saw her notice the flower peeking through the earth.
As she viewed it, she grimaced, recalling the intense, sharp
pain she felt when the Creator worked to plant the seed into the hardened
earth. Afterward, it throbbed, a dull and steady pain. She often doubted the
love the Creator proclaimed to have for her. Why must it hurt so?
After He planted it, she would often visit the sacred plot.
“I don’t see anything growing,” she would tell Him. He would look at her with
eyes full of intense love, and he would say, “Wait and trust Me.”
She waited, often in disappointment because what she longed
to see was slow in growing. She could feel the roots deepening, though the
flower had yet to be seen. So she continued on the path the Creator led her
down, and with every disappointment along the way, the roots of the plant
deepened.
One morning, quite unexpectedly, she glimpsed a flower
pushing through the earth. Its petals were a vibrant blue with violet
tips and a yellow-white center. It was no ordinary flower. The petals appeared
sturdy, and the stem was encased in an intricate sleeve laced with gold and
silver.
“Its name is Trust,” said the Creator as she knelt by the
flower, examining the beautiful petals.
The Creator chuckled when He saw the delicate way she
examined the flower. He knew the flower’s petals would not be torn — they could
not be torn. But she was not as confident.
After a thorough inspection, she said, “It’s small but
strong.” She paused, hesitating. “It is beautiful, but it is so small … I endured so much pain to grow it. Shouldn’t
it be bigger?”
The Creator smiled. “No, Beloved, that will come. Growth
will be a little easier now. It will grow into a large, strong and beautiful
flower in time.”
They sat together in silence for some time. She continued to
examine the flower, transfixed.
Finally, the Creator asked her, “Did you feel it when the
roots grew?”
She nodded. “Oh yes, I felt it during difficult and painful
circumstances.”
“Yes, Trust is difficult to grow in some of my children. The
roots must make it through the very hard ground of unbelief. It is a very
painful process for you and for Me.”
“Where did the roots go?”
They were growing toward the Spring of Living Water. That
spring is what’s needed to sustain it. I had to send many storms to soften the
hard ground, so the roots could make it to the spring.”
She nodded and quietly reflected on the trust that was
slowly but surely overriding the doubt, confusion and pain that frequently attacked
her.
“Thank you,” she said quietly, recalling a verse from the
Creator’s sacred text: “We rejoice in our sufferings,
knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character,
and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame because God’s
love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been
given to us” (Romans 5:3-5).
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