Bloom Where you Are Planted

Bloom Where You Are Planted

There is an old saying, “Bloom where you're planted!” It is basically saying that we should take advantage of the opportunities that surround us. That can be hard, especially in a small rural town. But its not impossible. And, its what God expects of us. God gives us life. He gives us a family. God puts us right where he wants us for specific reasons. He expects us to open our hearts and minds up to all of the possibilities that surround us and to act upon them in ways that ultimately serve him and his greater will. Doing so will take us farther than we can ever imagine on our own and maybe even farther than we want to go. God has placed you right where he wants you for such a time as this. That doesn't mean that he won't use you elsewhere at some point. It just means that for now, this is where you are supposed to be. What is it that He is wanting you to do?

I think we often get scared by this thought. We want so desperately to have more, do more, see more. We fail to have, do, and see what is right in front of us. We almost avoid it so that it doesn't trap us. Letting go of the need to be somewhere else or to do something else and accepting what God has for us in the moment is a life changing move of epic proportions. Letting God work in the current job you hate by doing it without grumbling, letting God work in your struggling marriage by choosing to lift up your spouse above yourself and swallowing your pride, letting God work in your finances by recognizing that he owns it all any ways and we own nothing, that we are just managers of what he has allowed us to be over, and giving it all back to him; these things will drastically altar our lives in ways we never thought possible. 

Your town that is full of wayward souls, drugs, apathy, a dying economy, starving kids, welfare ridden parents, struggling schools, broken homes, and so much more; is right where God has placed you. There is hope here! There is potential here! You can be the one to open a business that will boost the economy. You can be the one to become a teacher and return home to lead the next generation. You can be the one that joins the school boosters and helps to expand the programs. You could be the one to start a new outreach ministry that feeds the hungry, clothes the naked, and helps to heal the sick. You could write grants to help fund civic projects that help to beautify and restore our town's buildings and streets. You could serve in civic organizations that bring positive change or spur on educational programs, or serve in ministry that seeks and save lost souls. 

There is a story in scripture about a man full of demons. Jesus cured him by casting out the demons. The man wanted desperately to spend the rest of his life following Jesus. Can you blame him? Not only did Jesus do this for him, which would be enough to make anyone want to follow him, but this man had spent his life ridiculed, cast out, abandoned and Jesus was his great escape from all of that. Following Jesus would allow him to run from all of that. But Jesus told him to stay right where he was. Why? Because, he had a story to tell and a mission to accomplish. Sure, he was scared, but he had to overcome all of that to accomplish all that Jesus had for him to do. The man did it. Jesus wants you to do the same!

The man from whom the demons had gone begged that he might be with him, but Jesus sent him away, saying, 39“Return to your home, and declare how much God has done for you.” And he went away, proclaiming throughout the whole city how much Jesus had done for him.~ Luke 8:38-39