The Chrysanthemum and the Crocus

Does the chrysanthemum envy the crocus? While the spring sun comes out and brings the crocus to life and color, the chrysanthemum remains dormant.  It is not yet its season.

I have a “crocus” in my life and while I wait and pray and hope and watch, the sun’s rays are shining down on her, blessings and favor pouring out on her like spring showers.  Some would look at a friend’s fortune and think, “Why are they so lucky? Or loved? Or special?” -  which is just one quick, slippery step from “Why am I so unloved? Has God forgotten or forsaken me?”

To you, I offer this perspective: We all have our seasons – our “springs” when we feel full of life and hope, our “summers” when God feels so close and all seems right in our world, and also the “winters” when we have little but a meager faith in promises as yet unseen.  It is the grace and divine timing of God that we don’t all experience the same season at the same time.

One of the reasons it is important to have others to grow with is to remind ourselves that God is the same, no matter what season I am currently in.  I may struggle with doubt and fear during my “winter” until I see the hand of God at work in my “crocus” friend.  I may not feel the warmth of His rays but I see evidence of His unchanging character and ways, still bringing the dormant to life in His time.

So, do not envy the crocus…be encouraged by it. 

 

And to you, Crocus – do not hold back in fear of making us Mums feel bad.   Bloom to your fullest in all of your wonderful color to restore in us the hope of our own spring.