Bloom where you are planted

“For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: He hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see Him, there is no beauty that we should desire Him” [Isaiah 53:2].

The end of it all is not milk or honey but God Himself. Many people believe they would be happier if only they were married, had a better wife, more money, more clothes, more popularity and more of anything you can name. They also believe their tomorrow will be better than their today and fail to live in the here and now, trusting and thanking Him for today. They are never satisfied that God has them right where He wants them to be and that is why year after year, they have themes of something better than last year yet if they were to look back, they will see their last year’s theme was not accomplished. Yet they keep on having and making new ones. It is all vanity. 

Christians need to learn to bloom where they are planted. Isaiah 53:2 talks about Christ the Messiah and says, “For He grew up before Him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground; He had no form or majesty that we should look at Him, and no beauty that we should desire Him.” Rather than whine and mourn, Jesus grew before the Father. We read in Luke 2:40, “And the child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom. And the favor of God was upon Him”. He was only but a child when He grew and became strong, filled with wisdom. The least one could expect from a child. 

In spite of the many challenging situations around Him He grew. The religious ground was hard but He was tender and did not become hard like the leaders of the day. How hard were the people then? Jesus says that they divorced their wives because of the hardness of their hearts [Matthew 19:8]. That was not a simple thing. Before God it was treachery and violence to separate the one flesh relationship between a man and his wife [Malachi 2:14, 16. KJV]. They had turned the house of the Lord for prayer into a den of thieves [Mark 11:13] and they justified themselves for doing it. 

The ground was hard with little or no spiritual nourishment but He grew up anyway. The Pharisees shut up the kingdom against men that none could enter [Matthew 23:13] and when they made converts, they turned them twice into children of Hell than themselves [Matthew 23:15]. They majored on the minor things and minored on the major [Matthew 23:23] and sought for men to speak well of them not God [Luke 6:26]. Among the many things they did, they also laid burdens on people that they themselves could not lift [Luke 11:46].

Saul, David, Solomon and others were said to be handsome but not with Jesus. They paint a beautiful Jesus to hang on their walls but that is just a figment of their imagination. The ground was not only hard and dry, He had no form or majesty and no beauty for anyone to desired Him. Today, many people make it because of their charming looks but that was not the case with our Lord. He was a man associated with sorrows, grief and rejection [Isaiah 53:3] but He grew in those conditions anyway. No one has ever been victorious like Him. In fact, all the victories we have come through Him. 

God is never mistaken and if you are a believer you are where you are not because you lack faith as some say and accuse you of not having faith. God wants you to bloom and to be fruitful where He has planted you. Bloom where you are planted with the resources the Lord has laid at your disposal. He does not need many or much for you to win a victory. “And the LORD said unto Gideon, ‘The people that are with thee are too many for Me to give the Midianites into their hands, lest Israel vaunt themselves against Me, saying, mine own hand hath saved me.”’ Judges 7:2].  We often forget it is “… Not by might, nor by power, but by My spirit, saith the LORD of hosts.” [Zechariah 4:6]. You have all you need to be successful in God’s mission. Bloom where you are planted.

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About The Author:

Pastor Sam Machacka is co-founder of Brink Ministries Southern Africa. A wonderful colleague and good friend. Equipping Pastors and Church leaders in Southern Africa. He grew up in Harare, Zimbabwe with his beautiful wife Mildred and they are blessed with three lovely children namely Samantha, Munashe and Joshua but they are now serving as missionaries in Malawi since August 2018

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