Blossom

Let’s start back at the beginning.

In the dry place.

In the desert place.

In the place of lack.

So dry that the very ground cracks open.

Thirsty for more.

So thirsty for more.

In the place of abject lack.

In the place of brokenness.

In the place of the broken.

In the place that fully expresses that which is broken

The full expression of that which is broken.

And yet you see each crack as a giant fissure, as a symbol of a great loss.

You see it as a path of death.

A place of loss.

A place that drains the very life from your bones.

You’d rather none of this ever happened.

Yet for me this is foundational.

I’m just laying the foundations.

I’m just making room for what is to come.

For the break is just a place where I can flow.

It’s just my way of ploughing the ground.

For you know about the trenches.

You know what it is like to dig up the dry ground.

I am just making room for my flow.

I’m just creating a space for my flow.

A place for full penetration.

A place for the depths to receive my flow.

For I am flowing of the edge of that which is broken.

In the hollow place.

In the broken place.

In the empty place.

HERE COMES MY FULLNESS!

In the parched place look out for my flow.

In the thirsty place comes my supply.

For the desert place shall receive my fullness.

Isaiah 35:1-2

THE WILDERNESS and the dry land shall be glad; the desert shall rejoice and blossom like the rose and the autumn crocus.

It shall blossom abundantly and rejoice even with joy and singing. The glory of Lebanon shall be given to it, the excellency of [Mount] Carmel and [the plain] of Sharon. They shall see the glory of the Lord, the majesty and splendor and excellency of our God.

The lack shall be overwhelmed by my overflow.

Can you feel the shift?

Can you feel the stillness?

Can you see what has been sown?

Can you feel the gentle breeze?

For the seed flows into the flow from my hand.

A sprinkle here, a sprinkle there.

A sprinkle upon the edge.

A planting upon the edge.

Perfectly placed.

By design.

First the seed.

Then the out of season growth.

The growth without season.

Not a usual cycle.

Out of season.

Unseasonal.

Not a cycle of growth and decay, multiplied growth, growth leading to more growth.

Shrubs of various sizes.

Trees of various types.

Then the birds and the bees.

A paradise formed on the foundation of brokenness.

Why don’t you come for a walk with me down the garden path?

Isaiah 35:3-8

Strengthen the weak hands and make firm the feeble and tottering knees.

Say to those who are of a fearful and hasty heart, Be strong, fear not! Behold, your God will come with vengeance; with the recompense of God He will come and save you.

Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped.

Then shall the lame man leap like a hart, and the tongue of the dumb shall sing for joy. For waters shall break forth in the wilderness and streams in the desert.

And the burning sand and the mirage shall become a pool, and the thirsty ground springs of water; in the haunt of jackals, where they lay resting, shall be grass with reeds and rushes.

And a highway shall be there, and a way; and it shall be called the Holy Way. The unclean shall not pass over it, but it shall be for the redeemed; the wayfaring men, yes, the simple ones and fools, shall not err in it and lose their way.