Flourish:
1) to be in a vigorous state; thrive
2) to be in its or in one's prime; be at the height of fame, excellence, influence, etc.
3) to be successful; prosper.
4) to grow luxuriantly, or thrive in growth, as a plant.
5) to add embellishments and ornamental lines to writing, letters, etc.
So I've been thinking about this word.
A lot.
I think, "Am I flourishing?" Do I want to be flourishing? I'm defiantly not flourishing financially right now. Is that okay? What about spiritually? Am I flourishing spiritually? Do I even want to flourish spiritually? What will that look like? Will I look like a freaky church person with lame t-shirts?
Flourishing requires health and a lot of it. Health that sometimes I don't know that I possess on my own.
The picture above is of a plant I received as a house warming gift when Adam and I moved last summer. I took this picture a week ago. These are the first two flowers (of many more to come as you can see) to bloom after literally coming back from the dead! This plant was dead - I mean dead, dead! I truthfully thought a weed was starting to grow in the pot. But nope it was the plant coming back. At the end of July I left the plant for 5 days with no water, I thought I had killed it for sure that time - apparently not. The plant kept growing and these sweet little blooms opened up!
Things that are dead don't produce. Things that aren't healthy don't produce. Malnourished plants might be green, but they will never produce a thing. It's only things that are thriving (or flourishing) that are healthy enough to produce fruit or flowers.
So of course as I think of the word "flourish" i think about what I'm producing. What I'm doing with my life. What I'm doing for God. And then it hit me, plants don't will themselves healthy. Plants don't decided to produce, it just happens. As a natural outpouring of health. And sometimes that health doesn't even come from a person caring for the plant, sometimes health is truly an unexpected miracle from God that we can take no credit for. None whatsoever.
I'm reading a book right now that is dealing with how you respond when you are offended. I'm realizing I have no choice in how I respond. It's a natural outpouring just like those two little blossoms. I can not will myself to respond differently just as that plant could not will itself to produce flowers.
How I respond to offence is a picture of my health.
Any health I have is not because I willed myself healthy. Any health I have is a miracle from God.
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Those who are planted in the house of the Lord
shall flourish in the courts of our God.
Psalms 92:13
