The Daffodil

Yesterday morning, I looked out front at the daffodil (some people call them jonquils, and although they are closely related, they aren’t quite the same) growing and flowering in the front yard flower bed.  We had just had five inches of snow on Sunday, and a low temperature of 15 degrees during the night before.  The poor flower was wilted and drooped as if it had lost its last friend.  I thought to myself that, although hardy in the early spring, the snow and cold had taken its toll and it wouldn’t be there much longer.

Imagine my surprise today as I pulled into the drive this afternoon in sixty degree weather.  The flowers were bright; the leaves were perky; the flowering plant was none the worse for the wear.  Whatever had caused it to droop earlier was long gone, and the delicate flower showed its strength and resilience by continuing to herald the coming of spring.

I kind of like to take life lessons from things like this that I see from time to time.  And this one is pretty obvious, at least to me.  The flower that is at once delicate and susceptible to outside influences, when given half a chance, shows its inner strength and determination even in the face of great trial.  Of course, the flower didn’t develop that ability itself.  It was given that ability by the Creator of the universe.

And it’s just as applicable to us as the human part of the creation.  We may be swayed and blown about by forces beyond our control at times.  We may appear to be beaten down, and out for the count.  But there’s something that has been placed within us that makes us get up, and with half a chance to come away from whatever the experience is even stronger than before.

That “something” was not something that came to us by chance or by happenstance.  It was placed there intentionally by the Creator…knowing we would have need of it and knowing that we would use it to His glory as we marvel at the creative genius that made all of this.  “We are his workmanship,” Paul the apostle said.  And so we are.

You can probably think of several things in the created world that behave this same way.  Given half a chance, whatever it is that is going through a trial plows through the difficulty and comes out on the other side perhaps bloody, but unbowed (to borrow a phrase from Henley).  What a glorious and marvelous wonder this God of heaven is!