Down in the Ditches

Several years ago, it was almost April, and I was driving down the interstate with tears streaming down my face. There were several situations in my life that felt out of control and completely uncertain. Outside, the sun was shining. But in my heart, the storm had rolled in like a small dark cloud, and gained speed until the rains gushed down on me as I wondered if I might drown. As I pulled off of the interstate and onto the exit ramp, I felt the weight of my despair. I turned my head to check the path to see if the turn was clear, my eye caught the most beautiful sight– sweet, pink flowers completely covering the ditch. They were everywhere. While I knew I’d likely seen these flowers before, I felt like God had placed them there right in that moment just for me. The hurt began to lift, and I began to feel peace in its place. Like a sweet love bringing home flowers for no reason on a bad day, my God had given me this gentle, gorgeous reminder that He makes beautiful things in the most expected places.

God does not depend on us as humans. He only asks that we depend on Him. Therefore, His plans are not derailed when we try to throw them off track. Our failures are not too big for God. Other people’s failures that cause hurt and disappointment are not too big either. The bible says that He works ALL things together for good (Romans 8:28) and gives beauty for ashes (Isaiah 61:3). Do not allow your identity to become associated with your problem. The smallest broken pieces of what you have to give are good enough for God to make something beautiful, and our identity is in all that HE has to offer us in return.

The mistake you have been carrying the guilt of, wondering if you could ever be worth enough to see good come out of your life again… let it go. Your failure is NOT your identity. It is an event. Other people’s failures towards you that may have ripped your heart to shreds and caused a hurt that seems too big to ever heal… let it go. THEIR failure that caused YOUR hurt is NOT your identity. It is an event. Move on from mistakes, then let God paint the masterpiece of a lifetime.

I love that He put the flowers in the ditch. He could have put them anywhere—my walk through the grocery store, in my flower bed at home, sitting on the ground in the grass. But they were in the ditch. The dirty, smelly, useless place. The place no one wants to go into. The place that seems like nothing good could come out of it. That’s the place out of which the beauty grew.

Ditch flowers. Every spring they come to me as a reminder—the winter may be long, but God is the God of restoration, hope, and beauty in the brokenness. And in the springtime, He makes ALL things new…