What do Little Flowers Have to Do with Anything?

Last month, my precious redhead was on a singing tour. She had a solo and I tried desperately to get a good picture of her as she sang, I could only snap away and hope that something was halfway decent. Tears blinded me. The words came through all too clearly and they hurt.



Her verse included how we pray for all sorts of good things: protection, comfort, peace, etc. But then the chorus says, "What if Your blessings come through raindrops? What if Your healing comes through tears? What if a thousand sleepless nights are what it takes to know You're near? What if trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise?" As much as I loved my baby and her heart as she sang through the song she fell in love with, I had trouble with it.

I don't like pain. Stress isn't pleasant. And I'm quite comfortable right now, thank you very much. Don't upset the apple cart. "Sit down you're rocking the boat!"

Nevertheless, the words went in deeply though, despite my avoidance of them.

Her song reminded me of another from my college years:
"Little flowers never worry when the wind begins to blow, and they never cry when the rain begins to fall.
Though it's wet and oh so cold, soon the sun will shine again, then they'll smile into the world for their beauty to behold.
When the clouds begin to gather and the storm begins to blow, little flowers don’t complain though they’re tossing to and fro.
Oh, I guess they’ve learned the secret. They don’t fret because they know if it never, never rained, then they’d never, never grow."

I love the words of the verses, but then the chorus comes in: "So let it rain, let it rain, let it pour. Let old trouble keep knocking at my door."

As a bright-eyed college student who could still get a good night's sleep on the floor, that's not a problem to sing out with all intensity. But as an adult, I wonder who in their right mind would pray for trouble? 

And, by the way, my mind has NOT changed in that matter.

But only a little over a month later, as my husband's job has been eliminated, I find myself in the midst of trials. I asked my sweet hubby for help in closing this little article.  He said, "send money," but that's not quite where I was headed!

What I actually want to share is how, in looking forward, through any storm, it's hard to see past the raindrops. I was in a storm several months ago - SEVERAL months ago (I'm in the dusty state of Texas.) and I could swear I went through a washing machine.  I couldn't see the road, the curb, the grass right next to me. I just had to drive by braille on the lane bumps. Glad it was a deserted road!

But in looking backward as the rain passed over, things were crystal clear. I didn't get the rainbow and the pot of gold, but I got home okay - that felt like gold!

After all, Noah didn't see the rainbow until after the rain, either.

So I'm praying for a quick end to this shower. But in the midst of it, I'm thankful for the mercies I'm getting to receive. It's not the way I would've chosen, but I'm seeing God's fingerprints all over the place. How humbling that He works for us and shows us all that He is wanting to do. The prayer-cover alone this week has given an amazing peace that just shouldn't be here. But God is God and He is having His way! Praise Him!

"You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You." Isaiah 26:3