The difference a verb makes

Today as I went for my run, I passed a neighbor working in her garden, admiring how well the flowers were blooming - at least that's what I imagined she was doing. I called out as I passed, "Your flowers look beautiful!" and then ran on down the road. As my feet pounded the pavement, I heard in my head - "Wrong word." 

What? Beautiful? 

"No, wrong verb."

Looked? Then what?

"Are."

The difference in a verb. They looked beautiful versus they ARE beautiful. Those flowers ARE beautiful because God made them. 

I wondered how often do I make the same mistake when I look at life? I decide what is beautiful by how things LOOK, when God sees them as they ARE. 

The flowers that I passed truly are beautiful, but they were just as beautiful when buried in the ground, waiting to push past the dirt into the sun. They were just as beautiful when the buds were forming in awkward fashion, wondering what it might be like to spread out and show their colors. They will be just as beautiful once those same colors start to fade and wilt, and they will be just as beautiful when they droop their heads at the end of summer and wait to bloom again. Every stage, every moment, is a part of what God created and it is beautiful.

This time of year we have Japanese Magnolias that bloom and brighten the corner where they are. I always worry that we'll get our characteristic Spring freeze that will destroy the blooms, but they don't. They just bloom. They simply do what they are created to do.

Can I look at my life, myself even, and think "beautiful"? Can I realize that there will be times of waiting and wondering what is to come? Can I enjoy the moments when everything seems right and full of color and light without focusing on the past or worrying about the future? Can I recognize that the winter can be just as much a part of God's plan as the spring? Can I trust in Him?

No matter what stage of life you find yourself in - the winter, the spring, the summer or fall - life is beautiful. You are beautiful because God made you.

Happy Spring, my friends!

Matthew 6: 30-34
“If God gives such attention to the appearance of wildflowers—most of which are never even seen—don’t you think he’ll attend to you, take pride in you, do his best for you? What I’m trying to do here is to get you to relax, to not be so preoccupied with getting, so you can respond to God’s giving. People who don’t know God and the way he works fuss over these things, but you know both God and how he works. Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Don’t worry about missing out. You’ll find all your everyday human concerns will be met.
“Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don’t get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes.