The glorious awakening of a plant showcases new life as it unfolds and develops.

God, the master gardener, has crafted and engineered abundant displays of his creativity. His handiwork adds beauty, has purpose, and points us to himself.

A newly sprouted, hidden seed has to wait for the right temperature to push up its stem through the dirt and grow into fullness of its own kind. Hidden in and connected to Christ, we believers grow in fullness as he nourishes us (John 15:4). Adding beauty and purpose, he blesses us with gifts and passions. It may be, though, that we need to wait to use them.

Waiting can be hard.

As it should be, we are often eager to serve our God and serve others. (Let’s be sure our motives are sincere and pure! ) Doing something makes us feel useful and may make us feel good. Compared to the day-in and day-out tasks, however, we sometimes like to envision grander ways of serving God. In reality, the ‘grand’ ways of serving God do not always happen in our timing. Sometimes God has to work in us before we can be ready to serve in the ways he calls us. Sometimes, God is preparing those we will be serving. And, when the time comes for us to do what he has been preparing us to do, we may not have anticipated the details that come with it. In his omniscience, God works in ways we cannot always comprehend (Isaiah 55:8-9).

Like the sprout that comes out of the dirt, unaware of its surroundings, we may not have been expecting the situation in which God has placed us. But God did. We can go forth in his sovereignty and faithfulness. This propels us to depend on our Father, rather than making our service about what we can do for him. Isn’t serving God really about bringing glory to him, anyway?

We have opportunities to display God’s love, mercy, and hope to those we care for and engage with each day. What God most desires from us is our heart, in right relationship with him through Christ – to know him, worship him, obey him, and live for him. Because we are loved, no matter what our situation, we can be content serving him where he has placed us.

The beauty of it all is that each day is filled with opportunities to bloom where we are planted.

Use a Heart Training Bible study to help you dig deeper roots as you grow in the Lord!