Can we have a spirit flower? Is that a thing? People are always referring to their spirit animal. I’m not much of an animal person, so I think we should have a spirit flower. I’ve decided that maybe mine is a morning glory.
Morning glories get their name because basically they’re at their best early in the morning. They are low maintenance. They are a vining flower that thrives on the support of fences, arches, and such. And, get this, their blooms are a trumpet shape – like maybe they have something to say.
Oh, there are cool plants like the sunflower or the lotus that would be solid spirit flowers but I’m sure I connect best with the morning glory. I’m at my best in the morning. I’ll grow on you over time. I’m incredibly low maintenance, and while I may choose to be quiet at a particular time, I almost always have something to trumpet.
There’s a morning glory plant on a privacy fence that I walk by daily. It’s nearly done for the year. This weekend I noticed that I could just see a handful of blooms left. I got up close and took a picture. And that, friends, is when I really connected with this specific morning glory. Look at it hanging out there by itself. It’s wrinkled, weathered, and scarred all around but it’s still blooming anyway. Most of its friends have given up. It’s still blooming, flaws and all. I love it. I desperately want to be like that.
It makes me think of pressing on regardless of our inadequacies and damage. Despite its flaws and imperfections that flower is still trumpeting its beauty, and its hope. Can we be vulnerable enough to provide that kind of hope for each other?
My mind goes to Philippians 3:12-14. “Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, so that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Jesus Christ.”
Life in general takes its toll on us over time. We get weathered and scarred. We might not notice each other’s flaws from a distance – especially social media distance. We usually try to present our best, unaffected selves to the world. Sometimes I think that I do this to attempt to convince myself that I’m fine. The world hasn’t gotten the best of me today. But if you get up close, you’re going to see my flaws and broken, damaged places. I’m going to see yours. We can’t truly hide them. And we shouldn’t. They make us who we are. God uses them to help us grow and to encourage others.
Friends this year has sure been hard. I don’t know anyone that hasn’t been scarred up from 2020. If it looks like someone hasn’t been – you’re probably not close enough to see the damage. What you see is the beauty of someone pressing on. And that is where the real beauty lies. In the pressing on despite the brokenness.
We’ve all made costly mistakes that did damage. Leave them in the past. Ask for forgiveness if necessary, shake them off and press on. There are plenty of things I could’ve done better. But if I get too caught up in what’s behind me then I lose sight of the goal ahead of me. It has taken me most of my life to learn that not everything can be fixed. The real mistake is getting so caught up in what I perceive to be broken that I can’t move on.
Let’s don’t get stuck on our flaws, imperfections, and mistakes. We all have them. Give them to God and let Him use them. Let’s don’t get stuck in the mud and mire of 2020. What scarred us. What broke us. What we could’ve done better or differently if we had only known. Let’s press on. Let’s bloom even if we’re totally wrinkled and broken around the edges. The prize of Jesus is still ahead of us. That’s living hope. That’s good news.
