roses at midnight

I was sitting out on my front porch tonight waiting for Treasure to potty one more time before bed when I noticed how beautifully my roses were blooming. They are pop-out roses...I think that's the name...and they bloom like crazy! Cut them back and it's only a few days before there are oodles of blooms again! They outdid themselves tonight!

Bloom after bloom, wide open--smelling great--smiling--just waiting for someone to notice them! They are amazing, and all this at night! In the dark with no one to smell them, to gaze on their beauty, to appreciate them--and yet they bloom on! I see them and smell them, but even I go back inside because it's late.

Why all this beauty with no audience? Why is there no one to applaud and appreciate them?

Then I realized that my roses have the best audience ever. Their fragile flower lives are not insignificant. The same Lord who designed them, painted their pretty pink petals, and gave them their sweet scent appreciates them fully because nothing the Lord does is insignificant.

In the same way, our lives are designed by God. He made me just like I am--with all my quirks...and qualities. Just as He selected the exact shade of pink for each petal of my roses and their specific scent, He chose which genes came together from my gene pool to make me exactly me--from my Bryant bone structure and body shape, to my mother's nose, or to my brain function (whether quick or slow). Each one was selected especially by God to create me. Whether I specifically like each one or not, they are part of who I am.

"Before I formed you in the womb I knew you..."Jeremiah 1:5

Even though others may not always appreciate my characteristics...even though I may not always appreciate my uniqueness...He does. I am not a mistake and neither are you! He sees me--He sees us as we are through eyes of grace and mercy. His grace and mercy!

We are His roses, so whether I feel invisible or in the spotlight, insignificant and vulnerable or valued and worthwhile, whether I feel insufficient or content--even when no one else sees--I know that He sees me and appreciates me for who I am. I am His rose at midnight.

Father, None of us are insignificant to you. Thank you for your hand in our design and for your eyes on us, your roses. We are important to you and we bask in your light even in the darkness of midnight. I love you!

Suz