Before the Blooms, There Must be Rain!
I’ve been following the stories about the California super blooms. When the weather conditions are just right, locals from around the state are blessed with the most beautiful sight. Wildflowers in every shape and color bloom by the thousands in the state parks, greenery on the freeways, walking trails and canyons. It’s so large that it can be seen from space! I read about them last year when we moved here and wished I could see that just once. It doesn’t happen every year, in fact with California being in a drought for so many years, the super blooms have been scarce.
But something incredible happened! California is experiencing something that hasn’t happened in many years. In so many areas around the state, the long years of drought are over! The weathermen and scientists are baffled but ecstatic. The farmers are gladly looking forward to a bumper crop. But the locals are grumpy and frustrated because this uncommon rainy season spanning months and months has turned their fair weather city into a muddy mess. Local restaurants canceled their delivery services due to the rain, fearful of road conditions. Sports and community events were rescheduled due to the in climate weather. The tough part about living in an area where everything revolves around the outdoors is that rain puts everyone on lock-down indoors.
As I make the drive around town and especially the beautiful drive from home to our new church, the hills and mountains are alive with color. It has been breathtaking to say the least. Purple and red, orange and blue, every color of the rainbow. In some places it’s only in small patches but in others, it is an ocean of blooms! It is spring at it’s finest. I’m making plans this coming week to find some local places where I can go exploring and take more pictures, like the one above that was taken by Bob Wick, Bureau of Land Management California.
It reminds me of the principle of sowing and reaping. We cannot enjoy the beauty of the colorful blooms without the mess of the rainy season. Of course we would rather have the beauty without the mess but that’s not how things work usually. When I’ve walked through some of the loneliest and darkest of seasons, I felt sure that they would never end. But they always do. God put into place seasons, not only the natural ones like winter and spring, but also seasons in our lives. Ecclesiastes talks about them so clearly. There is a time to sow and a time to reap. When you put in the hard work of tilling the ground, pulling the weeds, and watering daily you are rewarded with a bountiful harvest that is a blessing to not only you but also those around you.
Right now, if you’re enjoying the blooms, the springtime, or the harvest season in your life, just know that it’s possible only because there was a rainy season that came before. Enjoy the harvest, celebrate the times of plenty, the times of rest and the times of good health. If you’re going through a time of winter, a rainy season, a time where you’re tilling and sowing but weary from the work, just know that not long from now, spring is coming!
One of the ways that I’ve matured as a Christian is finding ways during those dark, rainy seasons to ask God what is it that He’s trying to teach me. For years, my reaction was like most of us “Why me? What did I do wrong to deserve this? Look at what so-and-so has. Why can’t that be me?” Ok, ok, so that was just last week. Just kidding! But seriously, it’s so easy to respond that way, isn’t it? But if we say we trust the Father with our lives, with our souls, then we must find ways during this journey of life to trust Him in all things. Including the dark times.
The sight of those blooms is a memory that I will hold for a lifetime. I never guessed I’d be able to see them so soon after learning of the possibility of them. The next time I enter a rainy season that goes on for months, I can find solace in the knowledge that the blooms are coming, if I will just wait. They will serve as a reminder that when I feel alone and troubled, He will soon send me a colorful reminder that He is still near. I will also enjoy the blessing of those blooms because I know that they will not be here forever.
But in that lesson, I am made stronger because the dark times are not forever and even while I was in them, under the soil, without me even knowing, God was birthing a bloom that would take my breath away!
