Bloom where you are planted is not a bible verse, but a popular saying that is thought to have originated with Saint Francis de Sales, who lived in the late 1500’s (Wikipedia). It means to grow and thrive in your current circumstances no matter how difficult they may be. It also means to be content where God has placed you in life and make the most of opportunities.
Bloom where you are planted
If there is a character in the bible that represents what it means to bloom where you are planted, it would be Dorcas whose story is told in Acts 9:36-42. She lived in Joppa (a harbor city that sits above sea level and was the site where the Cedars of Lebanon were floated to and used to build the temple). She was probably a widow since she seemed to be friends with many widows, but scripture does not tell us that.
She saw people
What we do know about Dorcas, is that she used her gifts, talents and resources to serve the people around her. Dorcas sewed clothing for the widows. Now considering that widows were often treated as the invisible people in society, having someone make you hand-made, customised clothing, must have really made you feel special, seen and loved. Dorcas didn’t just make clothes, she built relationships. She sowed into relationships in such a way that it made a lasting impact on the people around her. She was a fresh spring to others without expecting a return from them. Dorcas made it a priority of her life to love the people around her and it showed after she died.
They didn’t just bury Dorcas on the first day as Jewish custom required, but instead “her body was washed and placed in an upstairs room” and they called for Peter from a nearby town to “Please come at once!” She meant something to them. They didn’t just get professional mourners to mourn her, the widows and people she had helped mourned her themselves, gathering around Peter and “crying and showing him the robes and other clothing that Dorcas had made while she was still with them.”
She used her gifts
Like many of us, Dorcas probably also asked God to show her what He wanted her to do to serve others. Each of us have received the grace of God and as Peter says in 1 Peter 4:10, we each have received divinely imparted gifts from God, not to boast about, but to reveal God to one another.
“Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms.” (1 Peter 4:10)
We are stewards of our gifts and are thus entrusted with a great spiritual treasure. Each of us needs to embrace what God has put inside of us and stop waiting for God to do “something special.” God has already imparted the gifts and we need to release them for the benefit of others, we do not have to ask His permission to do this. In 1 Peter 4:10 Peter was telling the believers to get on with it, being stewards of the gifts, to use them to meet the needs of others.
Dorcas probably heard this teaching from Peter and she looked around her community to identify what the greatest need was in her community. She identified the widows and looked at her own skills and gifting. She could sew and not sowing like we know it, in those days they made the material and sewed it by hand. But Dorcas got on with using her gifts and it says that she was “always doing good and helping the poor.” She particularly blessed the widows around her, who probably told other widows and in her own way, without huge effort, she started having an impact in her community.
Focused on meeting needs
Widows were often poor, living on the outskirts of society, considered insignificant or unimportant and often not included in events. Dorcas saw them, asked herself how she could get involved and used her gifts and talents to minister to them. She probably wasn’t an expert seamstress, and they probably could not pay her, but Dorcas served their needs, focusing on solving their problems not impressing them or others.
Have you ever looked around your community and identified who those people are, the people the rest of the world does not see, who need to experience the love of Jesus by your hands, gifts, talents that God has entrusted to you?
Stayed Faithful to the Work
It could not have been easy for Dorcas, but she stayed faithful to the work that she had in her hand. What work is in your hand? Are you being faithful with the work God has given you to do? People like Dorcas are the people who initiate change in a community, that bring the people that are neglected, back into wholeness.
Peter was moved to pray for Dorcas because he could see the impact that she had had on the community around her. He prayed and she was brought back to life, and then, she went right back to doing what she had always done. But news of her resurrection spread throughout the Joppa area and “many people believed in the Lord.” God used her life and her faithfulness in small things to be a witness to others. Acts of service and love are opportunities to speak to others about Jesus, to show them His love flowing through you and to share your own testimony. It is a good place to start being faithful with the grace of God inside of us.
Looked for opportunities to love
When we go around looking for opportunities to show love, to support and minister to those who have needs, then we are blooming where we are planted. Being content in what God has placed in our lives and making use of the opportunities around us to be fruitful and demonstrate that we are indeed the children of God, bearing much fruit to glorify God.
“This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.” (John 15:8)
So often, we spend time asking God to show us a great ministry, a task that we specifically are to complete, some calling just for us. We ask for clear direction, some sign on how we are to proceed, thinking that we have been bypassed by God. Yet, the work God has given us, is to use our gifts and talents exactly where we are planted and to express His love in the world around us. We don’t have to go to another part of our world, sometimes we just need to look outside our gate and…
Bloom where we are planted!
Lord Jesus, I refuse to let another day pass where the divine gifts you have placed in me are not expressed through me. I have so much to be grateful for and so aware of what You have done for me. Help me to use the gifts you have given me in the strength I receive from You, in the situations I find myself in, to the people you place in my path, so that You Lord may be glorified. Help me to be faithful in expressing your love to others right where I am planted.
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