Lessons from a Dying Tulip

So as I approached my doorstep the other day, I couldn't but help notice one of my favorite tulips entering it's last phase ... saying goodbye ... but one thing came to mind ... how beautiful!

In just one moment, three lessons came to mind that I can learn from this ...

Beauty

It first got me thinking about growing older, and also a phrase/statement that I remind myself from time to time: We can't prevent becoming old men and women, but we can prevent the kind of old men and women we can become.

Are we growing more beautiful, or are we growing more bitter?

Life has a way of eating at us if we let it ... bitterness, jadedness, and even just being grumpy can become a part of life. The more we live, the more we see ... and what we see is determined by where we focus. We can't deny the brokenness of the world, but with proper gaze, we can't deny the Savior of it all too ...

So ... stay focused on Him ... and as the petals of your life unfold, let others get to see that while our body may become more fragile, our life sheds beauty on those around us that see, listen, and watch.

This convicts me. My flesh wins more often on bitterness than I care to admit. Control is my issue here ... control is my idol here.

Perspective

Like that young budding tulip, things seemed to be "all together" at one time. Perhaps our life was in a season of order, perhaps our bodies were a bit more "tight" as well too! Maybe that relationship was going well. And now ... things just seem to be ... unfolding around us. Life, family, health, work, money, relationships ...

Yet what may seem like the end, is simply just a season. I don't recall talking to anyone that has not gone through difficult days, months, and even years. Yet even in this season, there is still beauty to behold ... even as we see things "unfolding" around us,

This convicts me. My flesh wants to focus on the petals falling to the ground more often than it wants to be His light in my given situation. I too often ignore the life-giving waters that are before me, and drink from the empty cisterns instead. Comfort is my idol here.

Rebirth

Finally, and perhaps something you've been wanting to correct all this time, I know my tulip is not dying! This too is just a season ... planted well in fertile ground it will bloom again next year! We too are pilgrims ... briefly blooming tulips in this world, only to be blooming in eternity forever with Christ.

... if we are planted in Him.

And that is where we start ... Him.

Planted in Him we can have proper perspective.
     Planted in Him we will shed our beauty upon this world.
          Planted in Him ... we have ... Him!

He alone is the purpose, and He alone is the prize. May we stay focused on the root, genesis, beginning and end of all things ... Jesus.

His,
~Matt