Philippians 1:6

". . . being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ".

In my living room I have a 3-tiered plant stand in front of the sliding glass doors to keep all my plants thru the winter. The window faces east, so on the days when the sun DOES shine, they get a good dose of global warming. My recliner is next to this.

I was sitting there the other evening and as I glanced over to the plants, I noticed something on my one cactus that didn't appear to belong there. I zoomed in for a close-up look and I couldn't believe what I was seeing. In this mangy, old, mis-shappen cactus with all of it's pricklies and stickies, a flower is beginning to emerge!!!!!!!! And not just one, but two !!!!! I was totally flabbergasted. And they are PINK !!! I've had this cactus for 3 years and it has done nothing but exist, and just barely, I might add. I water it, I sun it, I ignore it, and yet, it appears it has been thriving.

This is our story. Before we receive Jesus as our Savior, we are like this cactus in the eyes of our Lord- hard, prickly, mis-shappen, ugly to look at, not desireable in any way. The covering of sin makes us like this. Nasty and untouchable!!!! And a lot of the time, other people don't even want to be around us because our nature is so ugly. But when we receive Jesus into our hearts, a miracle begins. It is not readily apparent a lot of the time, but it is there nevertheless. Just like the cactus. It took 3 years for this cactus to mature to the point of flowering. And each one of us has a maturing time in Christ. And that time is different for every one of us. We each have our own "flowering" timetable.

We must allow God the time He wants to work in us. His timetable is the only one that matters. If we try to force things, the results are always imperfect. Did you know that a flower that is forced into blooming in a hothouse has no scent? If we try to force our Christian maturity, our aroma will be lacking. "For we are to God the fragrance of Christ . . . " (1 Cor 2:15) We want our perfume to be a pleasing, lingering, gratifiying, desiring aroma to our Lord. So we must allow Him the time He has ordained for our maturing. We must water, sun, feed our spirits with the Word of God and Christian fellowship. All the ingredients necessary for spiritual growth and maturity.

And then, in the fullnes of time, He who has begun a good work in you will bring it to completion. You will flower. In all your radiant, spiritual beauty. Magnificant!!! To complete the task to which you have been called. The flower on the cactus is ever so slow in coming forth, so very, very slow. But it was designed that way. For a very specific purpose. Some flowers pop right open. Some seemingly take forever. And every speed imaginable inbetween. So it is with us. Every one is different and every one of us must look to Jesus to know our time of flowering and the task to which our maturing has led us.

When I look at my cactus now, I don't see it ugly, mis-shapen, hard or prickly. I see it beautiful, delicate, pleasing to the eye, a miracle. I still must handle it gently, but it is soooooooo much more enjoyable then it was before. It's purpose is being brought forth.

How is your maturing coming along? Do you need more water? fertilizer? son-shine? Are you in the process of flowering or have you flowered already? Have you found your purpose in the Lord? Do not despair. Remember, God has promised, PROMISED, to bring you to completion. He ALWAYS finishes a work He has begun. Always. Thank you, Jesus, for your precious promises, that we can clutch to our hearts and hold you to your word. Your faithfulness is unending and your mercies are new every morning. Praise be your name, O Holy One of Heaven. Amen.