Pearls in a Nutshell

My Amaryllis 

I was gifted an amaryllis bulb for Christmas and I had so many Christmas flowers that I decided to wait to plant it.   I finally planted it a few weeks ago, and I took this photo today.  It has 4 huge flowers on the tall stem and more coming up on the second stock.  

I was telling my sister how I loved my amaryllis and she listened and then commented...:"I hear a devotional coming up !!"   Well, I never turn down a challenge .. and I am a firm believer in God having a lesson or message in everything He does .... soooo....  you, my friends, are the recipients of my amaryllis lesson !!  

Before I planted my bulb I did some research on how-to, what-not-to , to try to ensure my success.  One comment I read on one of the sites gave me great hope !  It said .. "Amaryllis' are easy to grow no matter what colour your thumb is !!"    Well, my thumb is all colours but green so I loved this comment !  

It made me think ....  I am  so encouraged that God doesn't 'grow me' because of anything I have,  or because of who I am.  He just grows me because HE IS and because He wants to.  

I love the verse in Psalm 115:3 -- "God does what He pleases!"   Did you ever think of that ?  God does what He does because it PLEASES Him ?  And it pleases Him to grow you and me into His likeness...  and He uses His own righteousness to do it .. All we have to do is be willing, ready and open to receive what He has for us. II Cor. 3:18,"But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord." Amazing, isn't it ? 

I looked at the ugly bulb before I planted it.  I really would have just tossed it out if I thought that was all there was to it!  But the box said that it would grow into a beautiful blooming plant.  Okay ...  I was willing to give it a chance.  

Aren't we like that bulb?  Plain, ugly, useless... (okay, I'm speaking for myself!)  and yet God looks at us and sees the beauty in us that He can bring out.  He knows exactly how and where to plant us and nurtures us to bring  us to be transformed into something lovely!  

It is a mystery to me how those beautiful blooms can be hidden in that ugly bulb.  How does it know how to get out and just grow and unfold in such glory!  Isn't that a miracle ?  Since I cannot explain that, yet accept the truth of it , then why should I doubt when God says He sees beauty in me and you and that He will 'cause us to bloom' !!   

Paul in Ephesians 3 speaks of the mystery of God's plan of salvation... how it all unfolds God's mystery, to reveal that "the Gentiles should be fellow heirs, of the same body, and partakers of His promise in Christ through the gospel'.  I believe the 'mystery of the amaryllis' and I believe the mystery of Christ - God's perfect salvation, planned from the foundation of the earth.  Ephesians 1:4  "even as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before Him in love."

I learned something amazing about the amaryllis' bulbs.  If the bulb is waxed it can be placed in a decorative pot, or simply hung from the ceiling and it will grow and bloom without you paying any attention to it, you need not even water it !!  

Wow...  the lesson in that is really profound, isn't it ?  If there are no missionaries, if there are no churches, if there are no Bibles, God can find the most isolated person and find a way to reveal Himself to them and open their hearts to 'grow' in Him.  We have all heard the stories of Jesus appearing to Muslims in the Middle East in dreams and visions because that is the only way they will hear of Him !  Only a God of love can care so much that He will do all He can to reach every single person!  No one will ever stand before Him on judgement day and say they never knew of Him !     

It was almost scary watching my amaryllis grow  - up to 2": a day.  It stands almost 2 feet tall! Easy to see what it is teaching us here, isn't it?  God did not save us to be 'hidden'.  He wants us to stand tall, where we can be seen by those who need to be saved.  In Matt. 5:14 and 16, Jesus says "You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden ...... Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven."

I have been reading how to take care of the amaryllis bulb so it will bloom again year after year!. It has to have a period of dormancy or rest after a blooming season, before it will once begin to sprout forth new growth. .  We too go through periods where we feel  tired,  burned out, we need to 'rest' or maybe encounter a period where God seems far away, or a time that tests our faith. Even though these times may be difficult we know that 'spring' is coming and we will be renewed in strength! 

"But those who wait on the Lord, shall renew their strength, They shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint." -

Isaiah 40:31.... see also II Cor. 4:16-18 

My amaryllis is red, but there are at least 500 varieties and colours. Easy to draw the analogy here that we too are each unique - our own 'variety' and our own 'colour'.  Yet all are precious in His sight !  

I hope you enjoyed my ramble inspired by my amaryllis.  To God be the glory for His wonderful creation so full of His love-notes tucked into it for those who seek to  find them !