1 Peter 3:18 – For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive by the Spirit. (NIV)

Late one fall, I gathered together some roses and coloured straw-type flowers. I tied them together and hung them upside down to dry. Once this procedure was complete, I placed them in a vase. I was thinking of the shortened days and long nights ahead, and thought that these flowers would brighten the day.

I could have bought artificial flowers that might have been more colourful, but they wouldn't have been the real thing.

Some time later, my husband, thinking that they were only dead flowers, reached for the vase, and said, "Will I throw these out?" I called out to him, "No!" Although they actually were dead flowers, he didn't realize all the time I had spent carefully watching over them throughout their drying process.

How often our heavenly Father must look upon us as something He is working on, while others have perhaps not noticed. He has taken time to mould us carefully and tenderly into something possibly not beautiful, but real and precious to Him. As we co-operate with His moving in and through our lives, He is carefully changing us from within, taking time in using His own process to provide what He deems necessary for us. Others may only see us as dried flowers, but in Christ, we are the real thing.

1 Peter 3:4 – Instead, [your beauty] should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God's sight.

Prayer: Dear heavenly Father, though we may not be noticed by others, may we humbly come to You, not to be boastful, or to look for gratitude, but only to work for You, in the beauty of Your holiness. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen.

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About the author:

Anne Russell <annerussell80@gmail.com>
Brampton, Ontario, Canada
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