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Bloom Where You're Planted
We do not have any say over where we are born, who our parents are, what our family legacy is, and much of the experiences that shape our early life. We are irreversibly impacted by all of these things which are mostly out of our control, but does that make us victims of circumstances?
I think some of us find comfort in blaming others for the situation we find ourselves in, while others of us compare our situation to someone else’s, and feel envious or jealous. I have certainly been guilty of both – using my parents’ divorce as a justification for my cynical outlook on life and believing my life would have been better had my family been more like (fill in the blank). This is a victim mindset.
Being a victim puts you under the control and authority of someone or something that is lesser than God, who is highest. In order to step into the full calling God has placed on us and follow Him, we must put Him in His rightful place, as the superintendent of our life experience.
Consider Paul’s words in Romans 12:5-8, “5 so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. 6 We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith; 7 if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach; 8 if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead, do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully.” We fit into the place God has prepared for us, and we are designed to do the work He means for us to do.
Saint Francis de Sales saw that clearly. He was a Catholic Bishop in Geneva at the peak of the Protestant Reformation. Transformation, revolution, and religious turmoil surrounded him and threatened to throw everything into confusion. And yet, through it all he did not lose sight of His call to minister love, kindness, generosity, and grace to any who would listen.
He lived out the truth of Ephesians 2:10, “10 For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”
How about you? Do you see the circumstances of your life like a weight dragging you down, or a diving belt holding you exactly where you’re supposed to be to do what you came for. You have to step back and choose, do you believe God is bigger than the things that have happened to you, or not?
Saint Francis de Sales did not get to pick the circumstances of his generation, but He loved Jesus and chose to serve Him the best he could in the season he was given. “Bloom where you’re planted,” was his encouragement to all who came to him for encouragement. We are not victims if we are in Christ. Jesus has chosen this time and these circumstances for us to thrive and if we trust in Him, we will.
Westminster Christian School, located in Palmetto Bay, Florida, is a private, college-preparatory school for children from preschool through twelfth grade.