Sunflower Fields

This summer there was much ado about a huge sunflower field near me.  My heart began to have a desire to go.  I kind of dismissed it, but it wouldn't go away.  So, one morning, my granddaughter and I loaded up and took off up there.  Oh my goodness!!  What a majestic beautiful sight to behold!  God's handiwork is so amazing!  All of these beautiful flowers so tall and straight, so picturesque.  The place was buzzing with people, along with bees as well, lol.  People were dressed up, with portraits being taken, some with professional photographers, some, like me, just being mommy or grandma with their smart phones snapping pictures....and some with their buckets, cutting flowers to take home.  A woman said something to me as I was taking pictures.  She said, 'It's kind of hard to take a picture with the sun so bright, and all the flowers facing the sun, isn't it?'  All of a sudden, thoughts began to swirl in my head and heart.  I then realized why I had such a yearning to go to the sunflower fields!  God was about to blow my feeble mind!!

As I looked over the fields, I could see that the woman was exactly right!  All of those thousands of sunflowers were standing tall, and every single one of them were facing the sun.  Their heads up as if to soak up every single ray of sunshine!  So I began to study the sunflower.  The sunflower is vibrant and strong, and is known worldwide for its beauty, and it's an important source of food.  It's oil and sunflower seeds are enjoyed as a healthy, tasty snack as well as a nutritious ingredient to many foods.  It is also an important agricultural crop of choice for US producers.  So they are not only beautiful, but they also have a food purpose as well.

When the sunflower plant is in the bud stage, it tends to track the movement of the sun across the horizon.  Once the flowers open into the radiance of yellow petals, it faces east.  No one knows why.  However, it is likely a defensive response.  Facing south or west could result in sun-scalding of seeds during very hot days.

Okay, are you seeing it yet??  Maybe it's just my simple mind at work, but I sure did get a wonderful spiritual picture.  Let me explain it.  Looking at thousands and thousands of those majestic plants, all standing tall, not wavering, facing the sun.... I began to see how we as sisters in Christ must stand tall and face the Son....S-O-N!!  That is where we gain our strength, our knowledge and wisdom, our everything!  Those sunflowers are a hardy plant, and can live in most any condition.  They can weather droughts and most any type of soil conditions.  If you have your face on Christ, you too can handle most conditions that this old world can and will throw at you!

As the plant in its bud stage tracks the movement of the sun, so should we as young Christians, thirsty for the Word, hungry for the growth in the Lord.  Only facing the Lord can we grow strong and stand strong.  They were not facing each other, or looking this way and that way...they were united...together...working together....with one goal in mind....to face the sun!  There were a few that may have been a little shorter, may have looked a little different, they had their own uniqueness, but still were all the same.  Don't you know that God the Father looks down on His children and sees us as those sunflower fields?  We have our uniquenesses, but we are covered by His very own Son's blood, so all He sees is our uniform beauty!

Another sunflower fact that jumped out at me was the fact that as they mature, they begin to face east!  Bear with me now, do you see it??  THEY FACE EAST!!  Matthew 24:27 says, "For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west, so will the coming of the Son of Man be."  Hold up, 'bout to get a happy bubble here....let's look at this through our spiritual eyes!  As we grow in Christ, get off the milk and onto the meat of his Word, we began to mature in Him.  As a mature Christian, we will began to watch the Eastern Sky for his soon second coming!!  Whoop Glory!!!  He's soon coming back and he's gonna split that eastern sky!!  As we mature in Christ, we learn how to protect what is really important so Satan won't rob us of our joy, or 'scald our seeds.'  We can now face very hot days on our Christina walk because we have grown in Christ!

I hold a new love for sunflowers now.  I see them and start soaking up the spiritual application from them!  What I want you to take from this is....be a Sunflower Sister!!  We are all in the 'field' together!  We are special...God made us female.  Females are nurturers, full of love, spirit, and emotions.  Often times, the enemy wants to stir our God given.....GOD GIVEN...feelings, and have us use them as weapons on each other.  We need to begin our day in God in order to stop the enemy in his tracks.  Grab your 5 minutes and do your devotional before you start your day.  Get your beautiful face pointing to the SON first thing every day.  This will help you grow and mature in Christ.  Growing and maturing in Christ will help you use your God given female attributes for His good.  By the sunflower tracking the sun as it matures, it then has allowed the seeds to grow and be used for food.  As Christians, we are to be used for the furtherance of His kingdom!  When we focus on God, We get our eyes off of others ad can be what we were made to be for Him.

As I stood there looking at all those flowers, so beautiful...not one was fighting the other for the sun!  Their beautiful large leaves weren't smacking each other or pushing each other!  They all have room to grow!  WE ALL HAVE ROOM TO GROW!!  We don't have to fight each other, nor race each other in order to grow in Christ!  There is enough God for all of us!  Then as we mature in Christ, we should have our heads up looking toward the eastern sky, waiting for the Lord to call us home!  Where there will never be another bee, nor weed to bother us!!  We can be like Him!  Praise the Lord!!

Let's make it our daily goal, to not let Satan use us as a tool for him!  The world often wants to knock us down because we are women.  Often times, I think we get that stuck in our heads, unintentionally, and we begin to fight with other women.  We have something to prove and no other woman is gonna out do me.  We may not say that...but the devil will use our beautiful gifts that God has given us to stir that pot...and before you know it, we have our eyes off Christ and on each other.  We let jealousy, pride, stubbornness, insecurities overshadow us.. Oh how heart breaking it would be to look across that sunflower field and see flowers laying down, twisted around each other, drooping and broken.  Don't you know God is heart broken when He looks down on His sunflower fields and sees us all feuding and fighting, testy and ugly, backbiting, and ignoring each other?

The sunflower plant has dentated, toothlike or serrated edged upper leaves and are often sticky, while its lower leaves are ovate, not serrated but often heart shaped.  Bear with me here, but I also spy with my spiritual eye...something here, too.  We have the capability to bring out our 'mama claws' when needed.  And we should, God gave us the desire to take care of our own.  Those upper, jagged, sticky leaves are toward the face of the plant to help with protection.  But, then those lower leaves are soft and heart shaped.  They are inviting and caring.  Often times we get hurt, and we want to roll our soft heart shaped leaves up and only have our sticky toothlike leaves out....not very inviting.  Meanwhile, the devil is laughing at us because he has us right where he wants us.

Ladies, let's grow in Christ!!  Let's keep our faces pointed toward Christ!  Maturing in Him so that we focus on the eastern sky for His soon reappearing!  Like the sunflowers can be hardy and grow in rough soil, so shall we, by pointing toward Christ, keeping our soft heart shaped leaves out to help each other a long!  Bloom where you are planted and blossom for Him!  Looking over those fields, I cannot tell you that there was a flower prettier or better than the other...they all shine in golden majesty!!  They all stood together in one accord, shining and glorifying their Creator!  Stop letting the devil see you a load of junk....shin in your own personal golden majesty!!!!  When the world looks upon us, they won't see any individuals....but only the golden glow that we are producing for the SONlight of our Heavenly Father!!