Creating beauty

 I had a revelation last evening during my cell group meeting. We were doing the examen of consciousness and we took three questions on board for 15 minutes: What was I grateful for today and yesterday, what I was not grateful for and what is God speaking into my future? 

I was grateful for where I have been placed, the mission fields of family, knowing I am exactly I should be. There were so many signs of affirmation that flooded my consciousness last night that I was immensely thankful for the thing I was not so grateful for is the impact on my health. I have difficulty getting sufficient rest, my energy levels are low, I look haggard and old, not to mention the physical aches and pains that remind me of the unfair demands I have placed on my body, and I yearn simply for a night of good rest, and to wake up refreshed and bright eyed. 

At the same time I acknowledge that all this, the physical challenges are part of the whole package. D once said that in order to experience the thrill of riding the waves, one has to be out in the water paddling on a surfboard 90 per cent of the time. What came to me was that 90 per cent of paddling was gruelling work that had to impact the body somehow , and not always in a positive manner. 

So what did my future hold? God wants me to work at creating beauty in the world. The beauty of the created world has always spoken to me of God. I find Him especially in gardens where trees not only give shade but bear fruit; where flowers of every hue bloom and delicious scents are given off. Gardening is hard work as I have found out these last few weekends where I have been trying to work on my neglected garden. Some of my plants have needed to be relocated to thrive, while others needed fertilizing to be encouraged to flower. Essentially more constant TLC is needed as well as post-gardening self care.

Apart from working on my physical garden in creating beauty which gives me joy a great satisfaction, and refreshes my spirit, the beauty I am to bring to the world is bigger than my neighbourhood and involves my gift of writing. It is no coincidence that I just watched episode one of YWAM’s Fragrance of Faith* documentary series which shares the stories of people who have stepped out in faith and obedience, and did whatever they felt the Lord tell them to do, despite the hardships.  Do watch it for it is truly awe  inspiring. It was also, for me, a huge confirmation of what I discovered, or should I say, rediscovered, last night. 

The call to create beauty in this world is not just mine, but one for every believer of Christ. How I do it will be a little different from how you do it, but nevertheless it is something we each will do if we believe in Him and in so doing, we will spread this fragrance of faith to the ends of the earth, if I may so humbly borrow the title of YWAM’s series. 

* https://ywam.org/news/fragrance-of-faith-documentary-series-on-ywam/