The beauty of a weed

When I was a kid I grew up in the country. We had acres and acres of hay fields, pastures, and woods to play in. One day, as my mom recounts, I picked a handful of "flowers" in the hay field behind our house. I came and gave them to my mom. Every mom needs flowers from their kids and I guess I thought my mom would love the blue "flowers" I found in the field. Now every Mother's Day I go into our hay field and I pick a small bouquet of these flowers for my mom and for my wife. The irony of it is these beautiful blue flowers are nothing more than a weed in our hay field. Yes, you can call them a wildflower if you want (they're actually called Ragged Robin), but for all intents and purposes on the farm, they're a weed. A weed, plain and simple. There is no real nutritional value to them and they keep good hay from growing where they take over. But try to tell that to a small kid picking flowers for his mother and it won't matter. Why? Because there is beauty in that weed.

The beauty of a weed like the Ragged Robin helps us see the beauty in God's creation. I'm not talking about mountain vistas or endless ocean horizons. What I'm referring to is what God has done in mankind. What we would call useless, God calls useful. What man calls ugly, God calls beautiful. There are plenty of people out there that look at their life and see something useless. They see something ugly. What God sees is completely different. Remember what God said in Genesis 1:31, "God saw all that he had made, and it was very good." That includes you and I because we were created by God. God doesn't see us as the world sees us. God doesn't even see us as we see ourselves. What God sees is something good. He sees something useful. He sees something of beauty. He sees someone He loves.

Here's a dose of encouragement to wrap up today's post. The next time you're struggling with the way others view you or even the way you view yourself, remember how God sees you. He doesn't see a weed. He sees a beautiful flower He's watching bloom. When you see yourself from His perspective it will change the way you see your self.


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