Last year (2017), as part of our advent study, (Slow and Sacred Advent, I highly recommend it!) we planted a single bulb. The week’s theme was “Jesus the Seed Brings Hope” and we were supposed to plant a seed/s at the beginning of Advent and see it bloom at the end. The bulb we planted never bloomed and it was sort of disappointing for us. It grew leaves which stayed green through about half of the year. I had never planted an Amaryllis before so I didn’t know what to expect. I finally cut the leaves back, and then it seemed to just go dormant. Several months went by. I planted a couple of small things in the pot with it (because plant lady) and started watering them sporadically. Nothing happened. I thought it had died, and almost pulled it up several times to throw it away. Then, all of the sudden, one day I see leaves starting to come out of the top! Within a couple weeks The leaves were shooting up and a bud had begin to grow. I have never enjoyed watching something grow in my kitchen window so much! As Christmas approached I realized that the bloom was about to open, and sure enough it did, on Christmas Day! The thing we had planted and eagerly anticipated 13 months prior finally bloomed!!! This was so precious and meaningful to me, and I felt a depth to this that I wasn’t able to quite unpack at the time.
This morning I heard so clearly, “The God of Hope” and I just kept repeating that and letting the truth of those words wash over me. This verse came to mind, May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing [through the experience of your faith] that by the power of the Holy Spirit you will abound in hope and overflow with confidence in His promises. (ROMANS15:13 AMP) and although I usually like another version, I really loved this particular verse in the Amplified.
Hope. It’s something that deep down some might feel like they don’t really deserve. Or some may have had such a lack of it in their lives, they don’t dare even try. Maybe you’re just too tired to hope for change. The thing that has lay dormant in your life, the thing that you thought had died…. Could it be that it’s just not the season for it to bloom? Could it be that you threw it away, thinking it was dead?
When you don’t FEEL hopeful about your situation. When it seems like there is no way things will get better. Remember, He is the God of all HOPE not the God of all feelings. Whether you feel hopeful about your situation or not, stand firm on the truth of the great HOPE we have in Jesus. I love the amplified version of this verse, because we really CAN walk in confidence in His promises. He doesn’t change. His promises are sure. His principles are eternal, and you can rely on them working every. single. time. Planting seeds = a harvest. It’s not always the harvest we expect, and doesn’t always come in our time frame, but it comes, because God doesn’t make mistakes.
Just like we can confident that a seed will sprout when we plant it, we can be confident in His promises. Feelings aside, what He plants, He causes to grow. He’s the God of all hope.