Weeds and Wild Roses

Towards the end of last year, I was out walking on a stormy, rainy weekend. It had been blowing a gale and pouring down for most of the day, but late afternoon the rain stopped and I donned my walking gear and splashed my way along a path by the river.

My attention was caught by a beautiful wild rose, growing up in the midst of a tangle of weeds and overgrown shrubs that grew all around her.

These weeds and shrubs could have easily overwhelmed the rose and choked the life from her. Yet she chose to grow through them, with deep roots embedded into the rich soil, spreading out her branches, twisting and turning around and through the weeds, drawn by the sun to grow tall, wide and strong.

Those weeds do not define the rose. Yes, they have shaped her as she has sought to find a way to grow up through them. But they are not the rose, and neither do they detract from the wild beauty she displays – a beauty that is actually enhanced by the weeds around her.

This is no conventional show rose. She isn’t growing in order to be displayed in a vase. Rather, she is flourishing right where she is planted, in a windy, stormy and messy place. She flourishes despite of – because of – the weeds. Because they have made her more determined to seek out the sunlight and strengthen her roots and branches.

And so, through the wind, rain and mess of weeds, she spreads her branches out wider, with new growth and buds that will open when the time is right, into beautiful delicate flowers that display all the beauty of the Son who draws this wild rose to Himself.

Your beauty Lord, is not a conventional beauty. It’s not neat and tidy or cultivated! Rather it is a wild beauty, that blooms and flourishes best where the weeds are most dense and the wind blows strongest.

I wonder, would this rose have bloomed quite so strong and beautiful without the weeds? Did she ever look at the denseness of the mess around her and think, “it’s all too hard. I’m just too tired – I can’t do this?”

And as she did, did she – as I do – hear the gentle ripple of Your Spirit whispering softly: “it’s OK – I’ve got you. Don’t give up. Keep your eyes on the Son and we can grow through this together.”

And did that rose then take a deep breath, square her branches, turn her face towards the Son and take that next step on her path of life.

And as she did, did she feel again the warmth of the Son on her petals – see the smile on the face of the One who is cheering her on and know that, in fact, the weeds are worth it because they build her and grow her into something far more beautiful than just a rose.

They grow her into a wild, unconventional rose that reflects the beauty of the wild, unconventional love of the One who is always drawing her to grow with Him, through the midst of all the weeds and storms that this life holds.

Lord, may I be like this wild rose, drawn always to see your light – the light of the Son, and determined to grow in the midst of life’s weeds and the overgrowth of challenges.

To seek to grow my roots deeper into the soil of your Word, to flourish in your Presence, right where you plant me. (Psalm 92 vs 11-14, Ephesians 3 vs 16-17.)

To bloom with an unconventional and wild beauty that reflects the light and life of the Son in me, with a sweet fragrance of life to all those who pass by, drawing them to know the light and love of my unconventional, wild and beautiful God.

I wonder – how is the wild rose of your life growing? Where does your rose need to stop and listen to the whisper of the Spirit’s encouragement to keep going and not give up in the midst of life’s weeds?

Why not take a cup of your favourite brew and spend some time with God, listening to where He is inviting you to flourish and bloom in His wild, unconventional and beautiful life and love?