The Flowers Fade

To be more complete, "The grass withers and the flowers fade but the word of our God stands forever." Isaiah 40:8

We are thanking God this week on our 5th anniversary of moving to Bloomington, IL. He has been faithful. Since coming back to the US, each year I have been more and more struck by the beauty of Spring. There's no Spring in Indonesia as the weather is always hot and humid, so everything from beetles to banana leaves just keep growing and growing and growing. No winter to snuff life or growth out. But here, we get the joy of this renewal. New life. I think my very favorite smell in the entire creation is that of blooming lilacs. I love it so much that I wish I could just get an oxygen tank full of it to wear around all the time. Now, I know that this would be a huge hassle as I've observed my Mom trucking hers around with her these last months. And yet, for that smell, it would be worth it.

Now, I know what you're thinking. If I had it all the time, I wouldn't love it so much, and I'd soon grow weary of it. Well, that may be true. But, apart from technological intervention, we would never know, because the beatiful smell and view of my lovely lilac bushes never lasts for very long. Indeed, they bloomed for maybe two weeks, and oh, how I loved it, and it nearly makes me cry that they've already gone. And a question pops into my head, a question for the Lord. Lord, why do you make that exquisite thing of beauty, and then let it die so quickly? Why have you let me smell that heavenly scent, only to let it fade and wither in a few brief days? And all over again, he reminds me that were made for Eden. In Eden, when all was as it should be, the lilacs bloomed year-round. Adam and Eve would never have died. The grass did not get brown and lifeless. And I yearn for that place, because that is what we were created for. And that is what we will experience again, those of us who know Christ. As it should be will be our reality. And we know it won't be too long from now if the length of life in our flowers is any indication. Because we're just like them. The Word of our God stands forever. So, let's take some moments today to notice the things that are as they should be, the things that are as near to perfect as we in a fallen world can know. Then look forward to the day when the glory of God in all his love and perfection is all we'll know. Maranatha!