Accept the flowers.
Happy Valentine's Day to you all.
Today, as I ran into my local 7-Eleven gas station, the manager told me I hope you have a great day and shouted as I left, "Accept your flowers today." And it got me thinking about acceptance. And how much we deny acceptance and how denying it slows our progress. If you have been around for a while, you know I don't speak on anything I haven't gone through or working through, and currently, acceptance has been challenging. Especially in this season of my life, accepting help from my beautiful tribe has often felt like a burden more than a relief. And today, I was reminded to "accept the flowers."
This is a gender-neutral post because I know men out there who go above and beyond for their families, and accepting recognition down to a kind statement of appreciation is like water mixed with oil—it just doesn't sit well. It's uncomfortable to be acknowledged because they feel it is their duty and that it doesn't need thanks, and that's so far from the truth. Kings, accept the flowers. Let the appreciation strengthen you and heal you.
Ladies, I fear we do the same. Accept when a kind stranger tells you, "Great job," or you inspire me, or our favorite, "Yessss, sis!" Because we're so critical of ourselves, it is sometimes hard to believe we are enough. But do so, accept the kindness of others, and reject everything else that doesn't align with who God said you are. Accept the flowers, bask in your power.
But acceptance goes beyond accepting appreciation or a kind word, and it makes me think of why we don't take God's peace, love, and joy as freely as He offers it. I think about how we reject it based on what we believe. Or we reject God's gifts and promises because of how we perceive God and/or our experience of who He has been to us. If we've experienced him as a provider, we accept him as the provider- without a doubt. But if we've never seen him as a healer, it's hard for us to believe He is one. And God is one. He is a healer, and your experience of God doesn't make him not that. We limit Him.
We isolate God in so many areas of our lives and accept him in one part, and that's not living fully and abundantly. We believe him to be Alpha (Revelation 22:13), the Creator of us, but somehow, we can't accept that he is also Omega, the finisher, the end, the eternal prize. He sits above our problems; He isn't shaken by them. Philippians 1:6 isn't just a cute statement to get us through a tough day; it's a promise from our Lord, a promise from the Omega.
We can accept that He is Hope because hope is easy to accept, but we won't accept that He is also Love (1 John 4:8) because we've been hurt by loved ones before. We can accept He is our Refuge (Psalm 46:1) because the Lord will always keep us safe, but we can't accept He is also the Refiner's Fire (Malachi 3:2) and corrects us well.
We take bits and pieces of God, only the parts we love expecting to be complete. We accept what doesn't challenge us. Partial fragments of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will not fill you up. We have to admit He is with us through the good and through the bad- and we have to accept his anger, correction, and love. It is beyond time to acknowledge the fullness of who God is, and then we can see he really is The Author and Perfector of our faith because he is all-encompassing, and it's all for our good and his purpose.
Take the Lord out of the box.
Accepting what God is trying to teach us in whatever season is tough. It's no easy feat. Accepting what life throws at us can also be hard.
The acceptance of letting go, joy and peace, asking for help, of a compliment, that you have a purpose is tricky because of the challenge of it all. Once you know something, you can't un-know it, so anything that comes after your knowledge of it and what you do with it is your choice. Our society isn't so keen on teaching us to accept our choices and their benefits and/or consequences because it doesn't allow us to blame anyone else, and we don't like that. We don't like it when it's all on us. Fortunately for us, though, when we take responsibility for our failures and pride, we serve a God who will use it for our growth.
God can't heal what you won't face.
John 16:33 says, " I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world, you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world." Here, God is giving us his peace—clear as day—but it's hard for some of us to receive it.
It's time to receive it.
We must learn to receive without the burden of always thinking of reciprocity and ways of outgiving the giver. We can't one-up God. Because He loves us, we believe we must do many things to earn it. He freely gives to us. There's nothing we can do to pay Him back for His love when He really just wants us. He really wants to do work in us. There are no sacrifices that are great enough to please God. Obeying his voice is pleasing to him (1 Samuel 15:22).
Be with Him; let Jesus change you from the inside out. Accept his peace, joy, yoke, and plan for your life. Sit uncomfortably sometimes, not knowing what to say or do until He directs your plan and steps. HE WILL. Because what comes from sitting with Jesus? A fruitful vine.
My challenge for us all is to ask God what I need to accept. What is it that you've been running from? Is it your calling? Is it yourself? Is it joy? Is it love? Is it community? Whatever it is, I pray that you accept the answer in stride, surrender it all to Jesus, and trust Him to lead and guide you through the changes. Acceptance can be challenging, but with God, all things are possible. Our life and garden are beautiful because of everything we've been through, and through the power of acceptance, your life will bloom.
Accept the flowers today.