BLOOMERS V. GLOOMERS

“I hate this town!” the newcomer complained to me. “I can hardly wait to move back to my old town.” I don't remember what I replied—maybe to give the town a chance (as I had—and I was now quite comfortable and happy here). But difficult family circumstances had mandated the move. 

I thought about the phrase “bloom where you are planted.” I first heard it back in the 1970s when it was featured on posters showing lovely flowers. That's also when I, new to this town, decided I'd try to bloom, not “bomb out.”

Later I realized the principle was Biblical. The Old Testament's David probably had times of wanting to say, “I don't like living here.” Like, when as God's next-king-designate, David was hiding out in caves to escape murder by a deranged King Saul, whom he would succeed. I'm not sure when in his life he wrote what we call Psalm 37, but it sure speaks of navigating times when life doesn't turn out the way you'd hoped. Yet, of such times of “discombobulation” (I love that word; it means “a time of being upset or confusion”), David was able to declare:

Trust in the Lord, and do good,

Dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness.

Delight yourself also in the LORD,

And He shall give you the desires of your heart.

Commit your way to the LORD, Trust also in Him,

And He shall bring it to pass.

He shall bring forth your righteousness as the light,

And your justice as the noonday. (Psalm 37:3-6 NKJV)

In other words, wait and see what God can do with your new circumstances. Be willing to flex, maybe learning new job skills and adjusting to new people, who just might bring out your “better self.”

I photographed this rhododendron in early May, when it was at its prime. (It reminded me of an orchid!) A few weeks later, the bloom had wilted, as “rhodies” are prone to do. I was reminded of the transience of God's floral kingdom but the wisdom He exercises with humans in “who” and “what” He plants and “where” for longtime “blooming.”

The prophet Jeremiah (long after David's time) used similar analogies in speaking of the sovereignty of God in moving people around. At this point in Hebrew history, his nation's widespread sin and apathy would soon result in a judgment of being captured and carted off to Babylon, a vicious and pagan nation. In his prophecies, Jeremiah emphasized that even when his nation's “location” and “vocation” wasn't what they dreamed of, to dig in and make it work.

Jeremiah 17:7-8 compares a person who trusts in the Lord to a tree planted by water, and thriving in that environment: “Blessed is the man who who trusts in the LORD, and whose hope is in the LORD. For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters, which spreads out its roots by the river."

The prophet also counseled his displaced people to “settle in” and make a new life, instead of pining for the way things used to be: “Build houses and dwell in them, plant gardens and eat their fruit....take wives and beget sons and daughters...and seek the peace of the city where I have caused you to be carried away captive, and pray to the Lord for it” (Jeremiah 29:5-7).

The person who complained “I hate this town” certainly was a candidate for such counsel. But their heart remained closed for years, nourishing bitterness.

I wish I could report a better end to this person's story, but...I'm praying. And really, the “end of the story” could still be rewritten to an outcome of hope and fulfillment. For that person. For any of us.