What does it mean to Bloom where you are planted? I think it is a good question to ask ourselves and to also reflect on what that means in light of what God is calling us to.
If you are like me (which you probably aren’t) I can’t seem to keep plants alive for the life of me. At the current moment I have 3 plants alive in my house and that is a world record for me! My husband has even pleaded on behalf of the plant when people have tried to offer them to me. It’s quite hysterical actually because I think it actually takes more talent to kill the amount of plants I’ve killed than to keep them alive. All that to say though, me and plants aren’t in a close relationship so I can’t write from a place of feeling I fully understand what it means to Bloom where you are planted from a plant lover perspective. Yet, I think that I can truly share what God has put on my heart and what he has been teaching me as of late for what it means to Bloom where you are planted.
Lately, I have been so greatly encouraged by the TV series The Chosen. What sticks out to me the most is how the disciples left everything to follow. They were called to leave their families, friends, careers and very lives behind to follow Jesus! Matthew 4:18-22 reads, “While walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon (who is called Peter) and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” Immediately they left their nets and followed him. And going on from there he saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets, and he called them. Immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.” That is what Jesus called his followers to then and that is still what he calls us to today. He calls us to give up our lives in the high call to follow him.
I believe that is the specific call of every believer, but also the very meaning behind Bloom where you are planted. It may seem like an opposing thought in the sense that the disciples got up and left everything and blooming where you are planted alludes to the assumption of staying put. However, one thing is the same, it is a call to follow Jesus in His leading in your life.
You might be a mom on maternity leave or in the middle of entering retirement or in the middle of succeeding in your career. You may be on the mountain top or in the valley low. You may be in an exciting fresh season or harder season that seems to lag on. Whatever season of life you find yourself in, you have the chance to answer the call. To answer the call on your life to follow Jesus and be used by Him exactly where you are and in the ways He is asking. That might mean trusting God in a place you didn’t want to be or didn’t expect to find yourself. That might mean being used by God in a career, relationship or way you didn’t expect. That might mean leaning into what God has for you instead of puttering on with what you think He wants rather than truly listening to what it is he wants! Each person will look different when they choose to bloom where they are planted as God calls us to different places, seasons, tasks and challenges. However, the outcome will be the same. We will grow in deeper relationship with our saviour, He will continue to transform us by the power of His Holy Spirit (in which people around us will see it) and He alone will get the glory!
So dear sisters, I beg you today to answer the call. Answer the call of Jesus on your life. Spend time with Him to seek what he would have for you in this season, in this day and in this very moment. Be attentive to his voice and be willing to do what he says. And then, you to can Bloom where you are planted!
Written by Chelsea Callaway (Resident Writer, She: Elim Women)