Water-lily

When I prayed the words of the prophet Hosea for forgiveness and mercy, I was arrested by the words:

“It shall blossom like the lily.” (Hos. 14)

I expected to see a lily. Yet the Lord showed me a water-lily. At first I did not understand why. After all, a water-lily grows out of the mud – from a place associated with what is difficult, wounded and unlovely. And then God gently touched my heart.

This is what human life looks like.

Each person carries their own story – experiences, suffering, wounds, sin, all that sometimes seems a burden too heavy to bear. But God looks deeper. For the beauty of the water-lily is not determined by the mud. It is decided by its roots. Roots submerged in water from which they continually draw life. For me that water is Jesus Christ – the Source of Living Water. It is in Him that a person puts down roots. It is He who heals, forgives and gives new life. The deeper we are rooted in His love, the less what surrounds us determines who we are. The water-lily slowly breaks through the surface of the water and opens toward the light. The rays of the sun remind me of the Father’s tender gaze – His grace, love and presence. They warm the heart and cause it to blossom. And then a miracle happens. From a place that seemed full of mud, beauty arises. Not because the mud was never there. But because Love proved greater than it. This is exactly how forgiveness works. God does not erase our story. He gives it a new meaning. What was a place of pain becomes a place of grace. What seemed like failure becomes a testimony to His mercy.

Perhaps your life too bears the marks of wounds that no one sees. Perhaps there are moments in it you would most gladly forget. But if you allow roots to grow in Christ, your story will no longer primarily tell of what wounded you. It will begin to tell of the One who lifted you up. And then, looking at you, people will not see first and foremost a person who has gone through the mud. They will see God, who can make even amid muddy waters the most beautiful flower bloom. For where a person becomes rooted in Christ, the reign of the past ends. And a new life begins.