Life Lessons from a Sunflower

I want to share with you a pretty funny story.  Suzanne likes sunflowers so several months ago I picked up a packet of sunflower seeds (the kind that grow actual sunflowers, that is) to secretly plant them in our front yard flower garden and surprise her.  I read on the label that the sunflowers would be two feet tall.  “Perfect!” I thought, “Little miniature sunflowers will fit nicely in our garden.” 

So I planted a few dozen seeds and faithfully watered them every few days even though it took about a month to see the first green buds breaking the earth’s surface.  After another week or so, I thought, “These are getting close to two feet tall—the flowers should burst forth any day now.”  Only that’s not what happened.  The 2 feet tall stalks quickly turned into 4 feet which soon turned into 6 feet and before I knew it, these gargantuan botanical specimens were towering over me at a robust 9 feet tall!

Now, I had long since thrown away the package, but here’s what I figure must have happened.  What I thought read "the plants will be two feet in height" must have actually read "the sunflowers themselves will be two feet wide!"  Here’s a picture of our “miniature sunflowers” taken just yesterday!  If you look carefully, you can see our 4 feet high rose bushes that are now lost in our sunflower jungle!

Our heavenly Papa is a fun Father who wants to talk to us about anything and everything if we have ears to listen. In the midst of being able to laugh at myself (it’s very important that we not take ourselves too seriously!), I thought about what God has to say about sowing and reaping.

"Don’t be misled: No one makes a fool of God. What a person plants, he will harvest. The person who plants selfishness, ignoring the needs of others—ignoring God!—harvests a crop of weeds. All he’ll have to show for his life is weeds! But the one who plants in response to God, letting God’s Spirit do the growth work in him, harvests a crop of real life, eternal life."  Gal. 6:7-8 (The Message)

Here's what I heard the Lord telling me:

Son, sowing and reaping isn't about expecting to get an immediate return.  Nor is it about getting back what you put in the ground.  You placed a few dozen seeds that fit into the palm of your hand into the ground.  You had a hopeful, expectant heart, and you thought you knew what the outcome would be. But as you waited a miracle was happening underground that you could not see.  For a time, it seemed as if nothing was happening.  Then out from the ground burst life, but not in the same measure to what you placed in the soil.  No, you received abundantly more than all you could ask or imagine. You received a full measure, pressed down, shaken together and overflowing.  You sowed sunflower seeds, so out from the ground came sunflowers, but each seed you planted produced hundreds more seeds.  This is my heart. This is my Kingdom. This is why I want my children to sow good seed--seeds of love, forgiveness and generous giving. And I will make certain that what they release will come back. When they choose to love, the love returns.  When they live a life of forgiveness, they are more readily forgiven by others. When they give with a generous heart, it comes back to them.  Not instantly. Not on the same scale.  No, I'm much better than that and you can fully trust my exceptionally good heart for you!

"So let’s not allow ourselves to get fatigued doing good. At the right time we will harvest a good crop if we don’t give up, or quit. Right now, therefore, every time we get the chance, let us work for the benefit of all, starting with the people closest to us in the community of faith."

Gal. 6:9-10 (The Message)

What Time Is It?

What Time is It? By Pastor Brent Lokker Earlier today I looked up at the clock to see what time it was.  Usually when we check the time it’s because we don’t want to be late for an appointment or because we are assessing how our time management is going for the day.  If we’re being honest, we’re often trying to gauge how productive we are (As in, “Am I feeling good about myself that I’m getting enough done by this marker in the day?”). My next flow of thought went to a very old (originally 1960’s) Dr. Pepper advertising slogan, “Drink a bite to eat at 10, 2 and 4.” (I know, pretty weird, but true and obviously this slogan came out long before we knew the toxic nature of consuming so much sugar.)  Since the numbers have to do with the time of day, many Dr. Pepper clocks were made to highlight those three hours. Upon doing a little research, I found out that doctors back in the day had discovered a natural drop in energy at 10:30 am, 2:30 pm and 4:30 pm.  So I guess the logic is that if a person drains a bottle of carbonated sugar water 30 minutes beforehand, it will somehow offset the condition.  Hmmmmm… So then, this God-thought popped into my head.  Because we have a Heavenly Father who adores His children, what if each time we looked at the clock, our first thought went something like this: It’s 10 am. I’m loved at 10 am!  It’s 2 pm.  I’m loved at 2 pm!  It’s 4 pm.  I’m loved at 4 pm!  Clearly God’s love is the supernatural pick-me-up that we were born for and the only one that can offset any emotional or spiritual doldrums we might encounter along the way. The best news is that His love and affection isn't just for 10, 2 and 4, but for 5 am, Noon, 8 pm, Midnight…you get the picture.  God never turns His love off! What would happen if every single time we looked at the clock, it became a reminder of Papa’s affection for us at that precise moment? It would not only change your outlook in the moment, but it would change your day, your week, your month and your life! I’m going to get really practical here.  Most of you will read this article and think, What I great idea! and then promptly forget about it. So how about this: Put a little sticky note on at least one of your clocks that you view regularly—the one in your bedroom that you look at before you go to sleep and when you wake up.  The one in the kitchen that you glance at several times during the rushing moments to get out the door.  The one in the dashboard of your car that you glance at frequently to see if you will be on time to your destination.  Or better yet, put a sticky note on each of them that says...“I Love You!” Then when you check the time and see the note, you can remind yourself, “I’m tired this morning, but I’m loved!”  “I’m a few minutes late getting my kids to school, but I’m loved!”  “I have an appointment in 10 minutes and I’m loved!” “I have to get that report done in the next hour and I’m loved!”  “I have some time to sit and be quiet with you Lord--You say I’m loved!”  “I didn’t get all my to-do’s checked off today, but I sure am loved!” Often, during the busyness of a day, I will intentionally look for Suzanne, my wife, and affectionately embrace her saying, “If we are too busy for this, we are too busy.” Your heavenly Daddy says the same to you.  Take the time to be loved.  It’s what you were born for!

Born to be Loved!

Last weekend I had the extreme joy of performing my nephew’s wedding in Idaho.  While there, I was able to go golfing with my brothers. On one particular hole, I was feeling the wind in my face and simultaneously feeling a great love for myself and I said out loud to no one in particular, “I love me when I love me!” It was a carefree, joy-filled moment that I instantly began to ponder.  It’s almost as if the Lord was saying, “I don’t want you to miss the significance of this moment. Capture this more and more because I want you to live in this reality.” We all know that we are supposed to love ourselves and love others (Jesus did say, “Love your neighbor as yourself” in Mark 12:31), but when we actually do feel love for our own selves, something changes.  We’re able to enjoy ourselves and enjoy the life we have instead of being saddled with discouragement.  Clearly the million dollar question here is, “How can I have this kind of love for myself?” To get the answer, look no further than to Jesus (now that makes sense!) who said, “As I have loved you, so you must love one another.” (John 13:34) “As I have loved you…”  Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross proves once and for all that you are worthy of being loved!  Jesus says to you, “I choose to love you because you’re altogether loveable!  I’m the one who decides your worth because I made you.  And I say you are worth being loved.  It’s settled forever.  I love you!” You might be thinking, “But I feel like I’m failing in life—I have so far to go.” Yes, it’s true that you have a journey ahead of you still, but look behind you and see how far you’ve already come! It’s one thing to intellectually agree with what I am saying, but it’s an entirely different matter to put it into action.  I urge you—no, I challenge you—to go look in a mirror right now, staring directly into your own eyes, and tell yourself, “I love you!” Now try it again like you mean it—with more feeling and being gentle and kind to yourself. How did that feel?  For most people, it almost feels wrong.  That’s a clue we aren’t used to loving ourselves and we're still doubting our worth the way Jesus sees us.  Agree with His assessment that you are loveable and look in the mirror one more time. “I love you!” By the way, don’t be afraid that this will lead to being prideful.  Think about it—people who are arrogant and conceited actually don’t love themselves enough and so they have a need to tear others down to try and make themselves feel better.  People who genuinely love themselves because they experience the love of the Father are humble—they know where the love is coming from! Now here’s the amazing part: when you actually love yourself, others around you will feel loved as well because it’s oozing right out of you!  Really! Classmates, co-workers and, yes, even family members will want to be around you more as you love yourself more.  I am declaring over you today a heightened awareness of the Father's love that is cascading over you at every moment!  You were born to be loved and you are designed to freely give what you have freely received!