The Marigold in the Rose Bush

I wrote this article a few years ago and I think I would do well to remember this experience and insight that God shared with me. I hope it blesses you in some way!

The Marigold in the Rose Bush

For some time now, I have been struggling with the issue of my own personal faith--the ability to see what I cannot see. While, of course, I never doubt my faith in God's existence or in the sacrifice of His Son, I often find myself wondering just how involved He is in my life, making it difficult for me to understand the exceeding greatness of His power. I, like many Christians, know the promises and provisions outlined in the Bible, but I often cannot even fathom the supernatural things of God. Consequently, I have been praying persistently for the Lord to open my eyes and help me to believe for things I cannot understand or see. Each day I have been praying for God to help me know Him so intimately that He becomes more real to me than anything else I can perceive with my own physical senses. Thankfully, my merciful Savior is answering these prayers.

Recently, I was blessed with a little kiss from heaven. In our front yard, there are 3 rosebushes growing in our landscaping, and about 4 feet away from them, on the other side of our sidewalk in front of our house, I had planted some marigolds just 12 days earlier than the event I am about to describe. Since they are annuals, I have to plant them every spring. One Saturday morning in June, I was returning home from picking my daughters up from a friend’s house, when I noticed something very peculiar and remarkable. I saw that there was a single orange marigold, growing in and amongst one of my rosebushes! I went up to it and inspected the situation. This marigold was firmly planted, roots and all, in the ground along with my roses. Since my other marigolds were planted 4 feet away, and with a sidewalk separating them from the rosebushes, there is no earthly way that this little flower could have gotten there. I know of no person who would have done this, and certainly this could not be the work of an animal. I even did some research on marigolds, how they grow, etc., and came to the realization that this flower was planted supernaturally. It was so interesting that even my daughter noticed it and told Daddy how “cool” it was that there was an orange flower growing in our rosebush. Even though I realized the supernatural nature of this event, I decided to pull out my little marigold and re-plant it along with its brothers on the other side of my sidewalk.

This seemingly tiny and meaningless happening has caused a great search for answers in my soul. I think about it frequently and pray for God’s wisdom and purpose to be revealed in it. I knew right away that God was communicating with me and I was determined, and still am, to discover the full intent of this expression of heavenly gardening. I believe that the meaning of this gesture has many levels, including that it is a sign of God’s incredible love and power, and that He does indeed hear and answer prayer. It is also a beautiful example of God’s willingness and ability to transcend the laws of nature to fulfill His ultimate purposes. What would have seemed impossible to have happened in the natural realm was a piece of cake for God to do! How silly we are to ever doubt His ability or desire to answer the cries of our hearts!

But, upon further prayer, I also believe that there is another lesson that I am to learn from my Master Gardener. I keep coming back to the significance of the thorns on my rosebush and I began to study Jesus’ Parable of the Sower, found in Mark 4:1-20. The marigold could have been planted in any of the other bushes that we have in our landscaping, but God specifically chose the rosebush, and I wanted to find out why. I especially focused on these words:

“’And some seed fell among thorns; and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no crop….Now these are the ones sown among thorns; they are the ones who hear the word, and the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things entering in choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.’” Mark 4: 7, 18-19.

As I read through and studied these scriptures, deep conviction set in my spirit that this miraculous occurrence was a modern-day Parable of the Sower lesson, complete with a supernatural visual aid!! For so long I have been crying out to God about why I, and so many other Christians like me, seem so powerless and spiritually weak, in a world where we are supposed to be more than conquerors, dominating the world for Christ. Why do I allow the devil to make inroads into my life and into the lives of my loved ones? Why does it seem so hard to see the Word at work in my life? Why is it often so very difficult for me to witness or share my faith with people who I fear will be offended? And my most often-asked questions: Why does God often seem so distant and more like theory than a loving and involved Father? If Jesus said that “My sheep hear My voice…” John 10:27, then shouldn’t I be able to know Him experientially?? Shouldn’t my relationship with Him be filled with 2-way communication? Of course it should, and I believe that God’s great desire is for us to know Him in a way that is more than theology or dutifully memorized scriptures. In many ways, I knew the Word, but I didn’t KNOW the Word. I could quote various scriptures that I had memorized, but an active, daily study of the Bible, I rarely engaged in. There is a great difference between reading it as a book and absorbing it as Living Water, and I was doing much more of the former, I’m afraid. In addition to my lack of real internalization of the Word, I have also been sadly lacking in terms of my fellowship with my Father. God often comes last in my day, after all the kids are put to bed, the dishes are done, and my TV shows are watched. I often take His love for granted, and the grief that this has caused Him I cannot even imagine.

I pray that this testimony also causes you to reflect upon your own priorities in life. Is the Word, or your relationship with God, choked by the cares of this world? Are you really taking the time to show Him with your actions what is in your heart? It is a much easier thing to take God’s love for granted, and a far harder task to take the narrow road less traveled by, but the rewards will be endless. As I reflect upon the reality that God heard my prayers, saw my tears, and supernaturally planted a marigold amongst my thorny rosebush, I am filled with indescribable wonder, awe, and conviction. I have always thought that I loved God with my whole heart, soul, and mind; however, I have now been forced to recognize that my actions and daily life do not reflect the primacy of this priority. It’s as if I have been shown a mirror into my soul and into my true heart, and mercifully, I am experiencing His unsurpassing love and forgiveness at the same time. And although I know that I am not where I should be at in my spiritual walk, for the first time in a long time, I know that I am at least walking! And the more I continue to put one foot in front of the other, the closer to my Lord and Savior I will grow. My faith in His love, faithfulness, and power have increased exponentially, as has a deep desire within me to truly make Him Lord of my life.

All thanks to a little flower in a rosebush.