Inner Strength…Resilience 3 Part Post

PART 1 DAHLIA FLOWER-INNER STRENGTH

     Recently a friend said to me, “Amy, you like to research, you should look into the Dahlia flower.”

     She was told, in the growth process, a dahlia bud will begin to bloom and close up. Bloom fuller and close up. This cycle continues until it has fully blossomed. Hearing the description touched something in my heart. I have gone through seasons of feeling and knowing I’m growing closer to God. Then, out of nowhere it seems, I’m shot down and I close up. I can relate to the dahlia. Learning about it gave me hope. Going through these seasons of feeling closed up and defeated have left me asking myself, “Where did I go wrong? What did I do to get here?” 

     God spoke to my heart the day my friend told me about the dahlia, “My daughter, you ARE growing. This is PART of the process.”

     A glimmer of hope. I had to know more about this special creation of God called the dahlia. When I hear about something new that intrigues me, I dove in to learn all I could about it.

Dahlia details I found interesting, and how they relate to me.

     ~This flower symbolizes inner strength because of all it endures. 

     Recent life lessons have made me keenly aware of how my God-empowered endurance through the many traumas and difficult circumstances in my life have contributed to my inner strength. I have experienced seasons of obvious growth that have been met with opposition. At times, the opposition felt like an outright smash in the face. My emotional reserves seemed to be depleted and I would close up like the dahlia bud until more strength built up for me to open up fuller. Fully blossomed, I’m not…yet. 

     ~The more a dahlia is cut, the more it will bloom. When the plant is about a foot tall, pinching out three to four inches of the center branch will encourage bushier plants, increase stem count, and the stem length.

     Not long ago I was serving in what I thought was my dream role. I was learning and growing closer to God. Seemingly, out of nowhere I had to decide between that role and whatever was next for me. OUCH! This hurt and still does at times, however, I know that God allowed this pruning for me to be even more fruitful in the plan he has for me. Knowing that when God is doing this work he couldn’t be any closer to me than he is, brings me comfort. “I [Jesus] am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.” (John 15:1-2 NIV)

     ~Removing the dead flowers will keep flowers blooming for months.

     God’s pruning away at the dead things in my life is leading me to be more alive than I’ve ever been. This is painful. Releasing those things to God can be difficult because they have been a part of me for so long. I have to trust that God knows best, he is THEE Master Gardener.