Bloom Where You’re Planted

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Part 2 in a 4 part series on Psalm 37

 

Dwell in the land and cultivate faithfulness.                             

 

The Land.

 

Something we take for granted in the free western world. But something that was of supreme importance to nomadic people in search of a place to call home. In scripture, the land held a special significance to followers of God. It represented for them God’s promises, their security, and their hope for a future.

 

I still think about verses that speak of the land in this way. They are God’s promises to me. And they have everything to do with my security, and my hope for a future.

 

Dwell in the land and cultivate faithfulness. Or in today’s language, Bloom where you’re planted.

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Life comes with neither a roadmap nor an instruction manual. And our journey through life is most often not a straight line from beginning to end, but instead follows its own unpredictable path with many unplanned excursions along the way. My own life has had so many unforeseen twists and turns, many exciting, some scary, that I could never have predicted its course when I stood on the cusp of adulthood. This kind of unpredictable living leads to the inevitable questioning:

 

What am I doing with my life?

 

Where is all this leading?

 

When will I be settled so real life can begin?

 

And God whispers to me to dwell. Not just to travel through, waiting for the real deal to begin. But to truly dwell in every place where He leads me. To dwell there completely by being faithful with what He has given me and with what He is asking of me.

 

Every stop in the journey of life is an opportunity to cultivate faithfulness, to bloom where I’m planted. And it strikes me that perhaps I sometimes ask the wrong questions. Perhaps my questions stem from a desire to walk by sight and not by faith, so that I know with certainty where this journey of life will take me. Perhaps the right questions stem from the overflow of a contented spirit whose trust is in God.

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Who in my world presently needs nurturing?  

 

What is the good work to which God has called me in this place?

 

How can I share acts of faithfulness with others so that God’s love is cultivated in them?

 

And as my gaze shifts to outwardly focused questions instead of inwardly focused ones, my heart can respond with a willingness to look to the Lord, following his lead, so that I might truly dwell in the land to which He has directed me.

 

Those who wait for the Lord, they will inherit the land.

 

His promises are ever true.

 

 

4 Comments

  1. Mary Ernst

    So helpful for me, Bonnie. A timely encouragement to “dwell” and ask the questions God wants to answer. Thank you!

    Reply
    • bonjourbonnie22@gmail.com

      Thank you Mary for encouraging me today with your comment. Blessings on you as you dwell with Him today!

      Reply
  2. cindasaid

    Bonnie, thank you so much for your ministry of the Word. Psalm 37 has meant a lot to me particularly since June and each time I read it, my trust in God alone increases. I happen to be using it again for a children’s teaching next week and will gather your wisdom into the fullness of the hour. Blessings in Christ!!

    Reply
    • bonjourbonnie22@gmail.com

      Cinda, I’m so glad these reflections on Psalm 37 have been meaningful to you…and hopefully to the children you taught as well. I hope these next two meditations in the series will continue to speak to you. Blessings on you!

      Reply

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