Tulips Again?

Most years my tulips only last a week to a week and half before the blooms are gone.  Some people don't appreciate them.  Here today and gone pretty close to tomorrow.  Some people don't thing they are worth the effort, the space.  For some the bloom, no matter how spectacular, is not worth it.

 

But I love my tulips.

 

I've got some fierce fuchsia colored tulips that I just love.  Brilliant.  And I learned a secret about my tulips.  Given time, they produce more and more tulips.  Plant ten bulbs and in five years have twenty plants.

 

That is so great about tulips. 

 

So for me the bloom, even short lived, is worth it.

 

It's just like that in my devotional life, that time I seek Him in the window.  Very seldom do I have an earth shaking, life changing, career defining moment in my devotions, but I do get blooms of His presence in my life.  Blooms of His beauty.  Now I admit that these blooms often fade quickly in the face of the rest of my day as my schedule quickly distracts.  For some people, it is not worth the effort, not worth the trouble for a brief glimpse.

 

But I love those moments in the window, those moments of discovering blooms of His presence.  Even on the busiest day, the bloom of His presence makes a difference.  Discovering it fresh and new each day is so worth the effort.

 

It's what so great about tulips.

 

Look for the bloom.

 

 

The Man in the Window

Bruce D. Rzengota
Norwalk Alliance Church

Prayer is not preparation for the battle, it is the battle.

Tulips

My tulips have been teaching me something this week.

 

My tulips are blooming-red, yellow, white, variegated rose, fuchsia, orange, pale pink.

 

They've been coming up for the past few weeks and suddenly they burst into color.  Soon the petals drop and the tulips fade away again for another year.  This year with so much rain, I've noticed something about the blooms, they have lasted longer.

 

How long is a tulip bloom supposed to last?  This depends on two factors: first, the kind of climate and the season where you live and; two, how quickly the flower is pollinated.   During the warm springs, or when the bees are very active, our flowers last for only a week or maybe a week and a half.  But during colder, rainy springs, tulip blooms last longer.  I've been enjoying tulips for the last three weeks.

 

In this cold, rainy spring where early May seems like most early Aprils, the blooms last longer.  They become a testimony of the season.  Spring really is here.  Better days, warmer days, drier days are coming.

 

That's the lesson. 

 

You picked it up right?

 

The blooms remind me of the presence of God in my life.  Often like those warm pleasant springs, my awareness of His beauty, His grace, the wonder of His presence passes quickly.  I get distracted by so many other things. But in the tougher days, the colder days, the more challenging seasons, He makes His presence known in more vibrant ways.  He seeks to manifest himself as a promise of things to come.  He blooms in our lives.

 

In the midst of a tough season, going through a tough day, look for the bloom of His presence, the promise of change to come.

 

 

The Man in the Window

Bruce D. Rzengota
Norwalk Alliance Church

Prayer is not preparation for the battle, it is the battle.