Sunflower oasis

This evening, I took a walk after work to unwind from the day and spend some time away from the computer. There is a wooded preserve nearby that I frequent when I feel a need to get away. In this preserve, I find green grass, tall trees, and cool shade. I also find fellow wanderers, others who are looking for a brief oasis from the work-a-day world. Even if we don't speak, I feel a kinship with them - a sense of knowing what we're each searching for in this wooded escape.

On the way home from my journey tonight, as I walked along the sidewalk barrier between the preserve and a busy street, I came across this gem:

Sweet sunshine

Stopping to take a picture, I wanted to capture the beauty. Even in such a busy, fast-moving, crowded environment, this sunflower blooms. The more I thought about it, a passage about flowers and how God cares for them came to mind:

"Has anyone by fussing before the mirror ever gotten taller by so much as an inch? If fussing can't even do that, why fuss at all? Walk into the fields and look at the wildflowers. They don't fuss with their appearance - but have you ever seen color and design quite like it? The ten best-dressed men and women in the country look shabby alongside them. If God gives such attention to the wildflowers, most of them never even seen, don't you think He'll attend to you, take pride in you, do His best for you?" (Luke 12:25-28, The Message). 

How beautiful is that passage? What a sweet reminder of His love for us. Note the paraphrase "If God gives such attention to the wildflowers, most of them never even seen..." Isn't that true? Do you sometimes come across something in nature that you wonder if anyone else has ever seen? Stop and think about it. There is detailed work underpinning all things. Who but God could be so creative? So dedicated? 

So let us remember that He will attend to us, take pride in us, do His best for us.