The Bulb Garden

We have a bulb garden in our backyard.  It’s filled with various flowering bulbs that bloom at different times of the year.  The winter Paperwhites have finished blooming already, as well as their cousins, the Daffodils.  I’m especially fond of the yellow cheery faces of Daffodils, because they remind me of sunshine breaking through clouds on a dreary day. 

Now Asiatic lilies and Easter lilies have poked through the earth, their stalks already reaching two feet in the air.  However, they won’t bloom for another month or two.  Soon the Gladiola will begin to emerge and will flower throughout the summer. Beneath all of these will be mounds of Oxalis, looking like shamrocks with delicate red flowers rising above them.

But today, none of the bulbs are in bloom.  Some are resting, waiting in silent slumber for their time on the stage.  Others have begun reaching up toward the sun, their fresh green stalks growing strong to hold the flowers that will soon burst forth. Still others, having already poured out their annual offering, are gathering strength from the sun through foliage that will remain just a short while longer.  The strength being gathered will provide power for next years’ blossoms, which will come again in their proper season.  Soon the foliage will begin to die, turning brown…a bit unsightly.  Eventually it will need to be cut back, pruned all the way to the ground because it has gone dormant. 

To the untrained eye the plant appears dead.  However, the bulb is merely sleeping, resting, storing up energy. It’s waiting for the time the sun moves to the right position to cause it to grow and bloom once again.  That’s their cycle: grow – bloom – rest.  Grow – bloom – rest.

I think I feel like a bulb.  I’m tired today.  MS fatigue has left me drained…spent…exhausted – feeling I can do nothing but rest…much like a bulb that has just put all of it’s energy into blooming it’s beautiful flower.  Those who aren’t familiar with MS tell me all sorts of things they think will bring me back to life.  However, I know my body has gone dormant and I need to rest.  I need to be fed and nourished and soak up the rays of the sun…the Son.  I need my roots to grow deep in the soil of God’s word.  I need water and rain from the Holy Spirit to refresh and strengthen me for the next season.  When the Son says it’s time, I will bloom again.   But for now I’ll be content with this gift of rest.

Where are you in this cycle?  I hope you allow the Lord to refresh and strengthen you with the nourishment you need, so you, too, can bloom alongside the other bulbs in God’s garden.

Ecclesiastes 3:1  There is a time for everything and a season for every activity under heaven.