The grass withers, the flower fades,
But the word of our God stands forever. Isaiah 40:8 (NKJV)
As we enter October and the weatherman predicts snow this weekend, I know my time caring for flowers this year is drawing to a close. One of the highlights of my summer was tending a friend’s flower garden. In May, we carefully planted each seed and seedling. In June, we covered the little plants when threats of frost continued. In July, we poured on extra water as the temperatures rose higher. And in August, we began cutting bouquets.
The “big as the moon” golden dahlias grew from starfish-shaped tubers shipped all the way from Holland. The ever-bearing cosmos shined forth with purples and pinks. The colorful zinnias towered beyond our expectations as they came from a tiny packet of Ace Hardware seeds. And the sunny greenhouse marigolds, cheerfully lined the edges, unconcerned that they were shorter than the others.
Throughout the days and weeks, I trimmed off the old blooms with a handy pair of Fisckers nippers. Even when I didn’t feel well, a trip to the garden to trim flowers always brightened my day. And as September rolled in with golden leaves on the trees, the flowers still bravely bloomed and I kept trimming. I have to say that this year, the flower garden was my second favorite time of the day, the first being my tea time with Jesus. In the garden you can forget your troubles and the troubles of this world, or you can lift each one in prayer to the Father up above. A poet wrote these lines long ago: One is nearer God’s heart in a garden than anywhere else on earth (Dorothy Frances Gurney).
Every time I trimmed the fading blooms, the verse my husband reads every week for home church went through my mind: The grass withers, the flowers fade, but the word of our God stands forever. Forever, O Lord, Your Word is settled in the heaven! Even as these flowers fade this fall, your Word is forever in the heaven. And I need not be sad with the killing frost comes, for Your Word promises there will always be winter and summer, seedtime and harvest for as long as the earth remains. (see Isaiah 40:8, Psalm 119:89, Genesis 8:22)
Today’s TEA CUPP: Thank You, Lord Jesus, for Your forever Word! Thank You, for Your forever promises. Thank You, Father, for creating this world with beautiful flowers. Thank you, Lord Jesus, for coming to be our Savior, to shed Your blood for our sins, to die on the cross, and to rise again to eternal life that we may live in heaven with You someday! Your Word and promises are more beautiful than these flowers You created! I love You, Lord Jesus!
He has made everything beautiful in its time… Ecclesiastes 3:11 (NKJV)
Forever, O Lord,
Your word is settled in heaven. Psalm 119:89 (NKJV)
While the earth remains,
Seedtime and harvest,
Cold and heat,
Winter and summer,
And day and night
Shall not cease. Genesis 8:22 (NKJV)
…All flesh is as grass,
And all the glory of man as the flower of the grass.
The grass withers,
And its flower falls away,
But the word of the Lord endures forever.… 1 Peter:24–25 (NKJV)
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson.