Flourishing In Hard Times

You’ve heard the saying ‘a picture is worth a thousand words’ I’m sure. Have you ever seen a picture that brought words to your mind—words of hope, endurance, flourishing, and praise?

I recently saw a picture (above) by Matt Walker of something amazing in the harsh parts of Utah. Amid the arid and hot landscape, amid the cracked ground because there hasn’t been enough water, amid the extreme conditions where you wouldn’t think anything could survive, there was life! 

Isaiah 35:1 speaks of this: “The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad; the desert shall rejoice and blossom like the crocus; it shall blossom abundantly and rejoice with joy and singing.”

It may seem like we’ve been in the harshest of times this year. It may seem like the normality off our lives has changed forever. It may seem that there is little around us. IF it has seemed like that, it’s time to change your view of what you see.

Don’t see the negative. Don’t see only the dry cracked earth. Don’t see just the lack. Look farther—look ahead. Look and see the flower breaking through the dry ground. Look at new life springing forth where everyone said there was nothing good there.

You and I CAN flourish in hard times. Jesus said He came to give us life abundant and full. Even in what seems like the wilderness of our lives, even when things around us are drier than dry, our lives will flourish, grow, and thrive because of His love and goodness working in us.

Change your view. Look at what God is doing around you. See the beauty He is bringing forth. You can flourish right where you are today because HIS picture to you is worth a thousand words of hope.