Keep Blooming

My orchid made me a proud plant mom. Its flowers bloomed for fifteen weeks. The friend who had given it to me instructed me not to throw it away after it finished blooming. “It will rebloom,” she said. So I continued to nurture it. How long will it take? I wondered. I was expecting the period of dormancy to be several months or even a year.

However, within two months, I saw something new.

That must be a new root; it is too soon for a spike, I thought, remembering the first time I became excited to see a new spike—only to realize it was a root.

Days later, I beamed with excitement after discovering the new growth was shooting upward. “It is a spike!” I shrieked. The timing worked out perfectly since my friend was going through a tough time. I took a picture of the new growth and texted her yet another lesson I had learned from my orchid. “Many people throw away the orchid once it’s finished flowering. Thinking that it has served its purpose and is now dead, we give up on the plant.

But not so. In fact, you taught me this.” My text continued, “When this plant stopped flowering, I kept watering it and continued giving it the sunlight it needed to grow. And guess what? It is growing a new spike. My dear, you may feel down.

Things may seem to be at a dead end but do not give up.

Keep persevering. He makes all things new.” God longs to make a positive change in our lives. In our darkest times, He assures us He will do the impossible, make “streams in a wasteland” (Isaiah 43:19, NIV)! The compassionate Gardener refreshes and sustains us. He wants to do something new within us. “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creature has come: The old has gone, the new is here!” (2 Corinthians 5:17, NIV). One day God will make everything new. “Then He who sat on the throne said, ‘Behold, I make all things new.’ And He said to me, ‘Write, for these words are true and faithful’ ” (Revelation 21:5, NKJV).

We serve a God of new beginnings.

His Word gives us the confidence that once we trust in Him, we can look forward to a brighter future.

Kimasha P. Williams