Lessons from a Cactus Flower

Beauty from thorns 

- that about summarises a cactus flower.

After the recent rains our garden has come alive.  Green shoots and buds are showing up everywhere.

But the most spectacular spot is where a half dozen or so cactus flowers have bloomed.  As I went 'up close' yesterday, I realised that this plant had a lot to teach me about life and about how God works.  Once again, His creation became His voice to me…..let me share with you what I 'heard'…..

This cactus starts small and thorny - very thorny. 

It's so thorny, there is virtually nothing else to see…..

That so often feels like life - very thorny - everywhere you look and walk feels and looks painfully thorny

Then as the cactus grows more green is evident and the thorns reduce proportionally in size, but those thorns still stay.

In their own way, their presence is part of the design and appeal.

As we walk through the thorny paths, sometimes smooth patchees open up, but not for long.  The thorny bits stay there. But they aren't simply a nuisance to be avoided or eliminated, they are working their own part of the design and attracting the eye of the on-looker. Others might be attracted to observe your life, my life, simply at first by the occasions of suffering and difficulty in our lives that don't go away.

But it is from the thorny spots that the flowers come, although at first, what later becomes a flower, just emerges from the thorns as a scruffy hairy growth.

Sometimes life feels like the thorny bits will never change and will forever be sharp and painful…..but then something changes and we hope for more pleasant times, only to find another set of circumstances that may not be as thorny, but appear just plain ugly, messy, uninteresting, dull, or simply chaotic.  

At these times we can begin to feel discouraged and downhearted especially when there are multiple thorny or messy parts in our lives. 

 Thorns may tempt us to be angry or bitter or to quit, but the 'hairy mess' tempts us with discouragement, dullness of heart, and just to be 'down in the dumps'.  It can feel like all the persevering through the thorns was for what?….just another hairy mess??

But we are called to keep trusting that God is working 'good' despite what we might see from our perspective and limited understanding.

Little by little that messy hairy bulge becomes a longer hairy bulge and we see the first glimpses that something else might be coming from what appeared to be inconsequential.

Then we get a hold of ourselves and remember it is better to talk to our hearts than let our hearts talk to us.  We tell ourselves that we need patience, that God is not in a hurry, but he's never late!  We need to persevere and wait on Him for His timing, plans and purposes. Just because we can't see anything 'of use' coming of our difficulty doesn't mean nothing is. Our timing may not be God's timing. Sometimes we need to press on for quite a while in the 'hairy bits'!

With a bit more waiting, a bud of beauty comes forth, something vastly different from the brown hairy mass…..but still nothing like the full beauty that will soon emerge.

From a hint that God is working something greater than the mess we feel we are in, we begin to see more of 'the substance of things hoped for'.  Our faith that God is at work despite the mess, is being encouraged to press on, to have hope and not give up.  

God is graciously giving us some further 'evidence of things not yet seen'.

And then when you are least expecting it, suddenly a magnificient flower opens up, the beauty and elegance of which surpasses anything you could have imagined. 

The contrast from thorns and the hairy mess, counldn't be greater!

That is just like God, when we least expect, so no praise goes to us, God opens up something that far suprasses our expectations.  

And we stand in awe and thankfulness and praise, with all honour and glory to Him.

He is working toward something that is breathtaking!

And the beauty of it only increases the longer you look at it.

That is just like our walk with God, the longer we walk with Him the more we are in awe of Him and His work and purposes. The 'closer' we walk with Him the more we will see His glory in the midst of the messy thorny areas of life.  

The messy and thorny may not disappear totally while we are here on this earth - in fact we have a guarantee they won't, but like this cactus flower, the spendor and beauty outweighs the lingering thorns and messes. 

As the flower spike emerged the thorns didn't disappear totally but they are now insignificant in our gaze. 

The hairy bits are still on the flower stem, but again, the magnificence of the flower overtakes any prominence of hairy bits!

Here are some 'close ups' of these magnificent flowers, as I looked at them from various angles - may they serve to remind you, as they did me, of our wonderful Creator.  

- stripes only seen from the underside….

- shimmering whites - reminded me of a beautiful bride!….

- and from the front…

- and in the centre, almost like a ring of delicate lace….

- and I'm hoping you can see the shimmer of the sparkles in the petals like they have been woven with a fine silver glitter!

The intracies and beauty of this flower from thorns, teaches us once again that we can entrust our lives to our loving Creator who is also our loving Father.

  If we think circumstances are difficult, thorny, painful, messy, chaotic or dull, we can be assured that we don't have the end of the story.  

We who belong to Christ, have an eternal glory awaiting us where we will experience the fulness of majesty, beauty and glory, for we will worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness.  

Yet also, often even in this life, we get to glimpse the reality that God can bring beauty from ashes and good things from thorns.  

We wait on him with patience and trust, knowing He is at work even when life looks bleak and ugly.  

We live by faith in Him that His purposes are far beyond what we see and experience at this point!

Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.

Psalm 42:11