Sacrifices Being Made

 

I would ask him on our hike the other day... "Who in the world do you think planted all of these gorgeous wildflowers?”

There was such beauty.
And so much of it.

Bright lavender flowers companioned our three mile walk.
And all of this lovely - discovered just out a few hundred yards behind our house.

This.

And yet who planted them?
Where did they come from?
What was the giver of such luxuriance considering?

And it got me thinking.
This sort of beauty generally does.

What kinds of things are taking place for the Kingdom of God that we know nothing about?

How many hours of preparations are being made by the now wrinkled-faced sweet gentleman, fitting for himself a Christ-centered message for a small number of sickly patients shut in tightly to the confines of an elderly facility?

How much toil and sweat are being experienced by those laboring daily to build - one brick upon another - in the remotest parts of this crazy wildly spinning world, in a singular effort to be the hands and feet of a Savior to the lost who are in such desperation to hear about Him?

How many weeping prayers are being uttered by the single momma who’s struggling so intently to minister through her own brokenness, to the very ones she gave life to, and whose own pain she’s still striving to understand, while learning to trust Him more faithfully every single day?

How many sit frightened - but still come as willing vessels every day?
How many are crippled with doubt - but press on for what Paul calls, “the prize” that awaits the one who "endures to the end?”

All over… right now… sacrifices are being made. Surrender is being offered up. Love is being lived out.

And so much of it will be hidden by a quiet, ordinary and secret existence, that the masses will never know anything about.

Those wild flowers there in that field are the evidence of someones brave bestowal of loveliness.
Those beauties there in that field, obscured, really, by those who pass by on pavement only… never venturing closely to observe from the place of intimacy… the place few are willing to go… give testimony to the richness of Grace and Love.

There are millions of victories all over the world.
They’re happening right now.

And in those moments on that path, in that field, I know who to thank.

I thank God for the ones who selflessly pour out - often from nearing empty cups themselves - so that others may experience the same beauty they’ve have the privilege to see themselves!