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"Be Still"
Psalm 46:10
Part 2
A blur of hot lead whizzed by the delicate, white flower head
of the Queen Anne's lace.1 The ground nearby exploded
like an erupting volcano, shaking the plant's roots. It couldn't know the danger
it was in, for it lacked a mind and could not think. It had no way to hear or
see what was going on around it. This particular Queen Anne's lace had been
planted near the stone wall by the Lamb of God. It could not run away-it had
no choice but to remain and endure the fight.
The morning started like any other. A dawn mist gave way to the heat of the
summer sun. It was now afternoon, and the air was hot and humid. At 1:00 P.M.,
the ground started to quake with cannon fire, and great black clouds of irritating
smoke soon filled the sky, temporarily blocking the sun from view. This made
it difficult for the somewhat disoriented, but undaunted honeybees to navigate
from their home in the tree to the field beyond the stone wall. The hive of
bees usually visited a million or more flowers every day. Imagine their confusion
when flowers disappeared from sight as men started trampling them underfoot!
| Every fiber of the Queen Anne's
lace had been commanded by God to complete the task Christ had given it
to do. Its job was simple, but important--make seeds so that new plants
could take its place, and, in so doing, continue to radiate the holy character
of their Creator. |
 Queen
Anne's lace |
. . .
The Lord Jesus Christ designed flowers in such a way that
they frequently need help to carry on their seed-producing work. In order to
enlist outside assistance, flowers were created as storehouses of food for a
multitude of animals: beetles, bees, birds, bats, and butterflies, to name a
few. Like most flowers, the Queen Anne's lace has a rich supply of energy-giving
fluid called nectar, located at the base of each flower. Insects, as well as
other animals, are free to drink this sweet juice. Insects are also permitted
to collect protein-rich pollen to eat and feed to their young. In return, honeybees,
for instance, unknowingly spread pollen from one flower to another in a process
called pollination.2 It is pollination that enables flowers
to produce seeds.
To better understand the importance of pollination we need to first examine
the anatomy of a typical flower. Jesus built each using the same basic materials.
Most flowers are found on the ends of long, green stalks called stems. As a
tiny bud, a flower is wrapped in the protective covering of their sepals (SEE
- pals). As it opens, the green sepals (which resemble small leaves) spread
out in a circle beneath the petals.
The petals of a flower give it its color and design. Brightly painted petals
help attract insects, such as the honeybee, to the part of the plant that produces
seeds.
Seed manufacturing of the flower is divided
into two parts: the stamens and the pistils. A stamen consists of a thin
stalk, the filament, with a bag of pollen, the anther, on one end. The pistils
resemble tiny towers and are sticky on top (the stigma).
In order to form seeds, Jesus made it necessary for pollen to be transferred
from the anthers of one flower to the pistils of another flower. |
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Let's picture the flower in a somewhat more imaginative way.
Think of a flower as a good prince. The sepals are his guards and the petals
his beautiful palace. Royal wisdom is represented by pollen which is posted
high in his kingdom on the filaments for all to read.
Now, faithful palace messengers, the bees, take the prince's words of wisdom
(pollen) to the villages in his kingdom, which are other flowers. Due to the
generosity of the prince, these towns are built as splendidly as the palace
city. Here, his subjects, the pistils, eagerly await his instructions. The good
prince's wisdom (pollen) finds its way into the hearts of his people and there,
produces good fruit (seeds).
The plant kingdom freely demonstrates the delightful creativity of the Lord
God by the thousands upon thousands of different flowers it possesses. In each,
we can see His beauty, wisdom, holiness, and gentle Spirit!
The role of the flower as a marketplace for God's creatures is expanded when
it turns into a fruit-in fact, most flowers become fruit! It is in the Lord's
interest to have the seeds of His plants, such as Queen Anne's lace, spread
throughout the countryside.
Jesus encourages animals to sow seeds by placing some into delicious packages.
When an animal, such as a deer, eats an apple, some of the seeds pass unharmed
through its digestive tract and are then eliminated at a place far from the
parent plant.
| In the case of a dandelion flower,
its fruit is so small as to be indistinguishable from the seed itself. It
is not tasty like the apple. The Lord was no less ingenious, however, in
spreading its kind. Attached to each dandelion seed is a delicate parachute.
The dandelion seed finds passage, not with an animal, but on the gentle
breeze that blows through a field. |
 Dandelion
seeds |
Seed of a Queen Anne's Lace |
The fruit of the Queen Anne's lace doesn't
look like fruit at all. Instead, seeds are fashioned in the shape of prickly
burrs which occasionally attach to the fur of a passing animal. In this
way, a trip to another field or meadow is almost assured. |
. . .
The raging gunfire made it possible for only an occasional
honeybee to visit the beautiful white Queen Anne's lace for sweet nectar and
pollen. The sensitive antennae of the bees could easily sense the strange odor
of spent gunpowder in the air. Fortunately, this did not stop them in their
task, and another generation of flowers would live to experience more peaceful
days.
God, however, had an even more noble task for the Queen Anne's lace that day.
Many flowers mirror the awesome purity of the Lord God, but few reveal the Lamb
of God in such a special and unique way! The Queen Anne's lace is actually a
cluster of countless tiny flowers called florets. Thousands of pure white florets
thus form each flower head. In a sense, the Queen Anne's lace is a miniature
garden placed on the end of a stem. In the midst of this beautiful bouquet the
Heavenly Father carefully placed a single dark red or purple floret-just one
tiny crimson flower in a sea of unstained white! If we stop to ponder the appearance
of a Queen Anne's lace we can be reminded of the blood of Christ set within
the infinite and eternal holiness of God. The Queen Anne's lace is a living
symbol of the divine image described in the book of Revelation:
Then I saw a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain, standing
in the center of the throne, encircled by the four living creatures and
the elders. 3
Sadly, the soldiers did not notice the revealed hand of God
that July 3, 1863. They saw His holy character neither in the honeybees nor
the Queen Anne's lace of the meadow near Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. The hearts
of these men were sincere and their cause seemed just, but their eyes were not
wholly fixed on Him. Had they seen the reflection of the Lamb that day, maybe
a war would have ended; maybe no more brave men would have died. Ours is not
to criticize what did occur, but to remind us all of a higher purpose:
He makes wars cease to the ends of the earth;
He breaks the bow and shatters the spear, He burns the shields with fire.
"Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted in the
earth" (Psalm 46:9, 10, emphasis added).
| The Civil War of the United States lasted four
years (1861 - 1865). The battle of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, took
place over the course of three days, between July 1 and July 3,
1863. It was the bloodiest of all American Civil War battles, and
more men lost their lives or were wounded at Gettysburg (a total
of 51,000 men) than during any other battle that ever took place
in the Western Hemisphere. |
Notes:
1 - Daucus carota; also called
Wild Carrot, Laceflower, or Bird's Nest
2 - Pollen is usually transported from one flower to another in three
main ways: animals, wind, or water.
3 - Revelation 5:6
"Pssst! Hey, follow me!"
Editor's Note: We're headed for a secluded section of
the Denver Public Library's second floor. Ahead of us is a gentleman who resembles
an Olympic weightlifter. He's a mountain of a man: six-foot-two-inches tall,
and 275 pounds, but there's something kind about his manner. His name is Brick,4
and he's wearing old blue jeans and a white t-shirt that reads, "Real Men
Love Jesus." He speaks to us in a thick accent.
"I wanted ta talk with ya, but I didn't want any ah my
friends ta see me; dar over watching a video on wrestling techniques. I'm a
little shy about dis, but I recently trusted Jesus with my life and I need ta
come clean about somethin'. I got a secret, but I can't tell my buddies-day'd
razz me. Ya see... ahh...I really love flowers: azaleas, daffodils, rhododendrons,
and chris...chris...chrysanthemums!
"Did ya know dat the biggest flower in da world is three
feet across? No, really! It's called Ralph... Raff-something, and it grows in
jungles.5 And, ahhh, duckweed is da smallest plant with flowers. It floats on
ponds. Da most common flowers in da world are da ones produced by grass, but
day don't got no petals so day don't look much like flowers!
"God's made more den a quarter million kinds ah flowers
in da world, but I only know a few 'cause I'm not too smart. I know dat some
flowers, like orchids, live in trees, and some grow on water.6
"Jesus made a kind ah mornin' glory dat's pink in da morning,
but blue in da evening-has somethin' ta do with its sap and how acidy it is!
Honeysuckle flowers got a stronger smell at night den during da day, ta attract
moths. And He made some orchids ta look and smell like insects ta attract bees,
wasps, and flies. Most insects can't see da color red, so a red flower, like
hibiscus, is pollinated by birds, not bees. Isn't dat neat!
"Ohh! I gotta go. Here comes my friend Mad Dog! He's not
as mean as he looks, doe. Remember, dar's nuttin' wrong with guys liken' flowers
if day know da One Who made em!"
Notes:
4 - Brick is a fictitious character.
5 - Rafflesia lives in the rainforests of Sumatra, Java, and
Borneo.
6 - For example, water lillies
| POLLEN ETERNAL |
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"All men are like
grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field....
The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the Word of our God stands forever."
Isaiah 40:6 & 8
Have you ever been distracted? I mean, have you ever set out
to do one thing and found yourself doing something completely different? I think
we've all experienced this!
In a way, flowers are fortunate--they can't get distracted. Our Creator, Yeshua7,
gave them an important job--to make seeds. The pollen of one flower lands on
the pistil of another flower and tunnels its way down into the ovary at the
base of the pistil. The ovary contains eggs, called ovules. The eggs are fertilized
by the pollen: divide, grow, and become seeds. Once this process is started,
there is no stopping it--the flower has to complete the task it's been given.
It can't be troubled by worries, possessions, quarrels, or any of the million
things that grab our attention.
In the fortieth chapter of Isaiah, people are compared to flowers. Having studied
flora, I've come to better understand why God uses this analogy.
We've been made in God's image, so like flowers, we radiate the beauty of His
Spirit. And like the flower, we are very fragile; we can easily be trampled
underfoot by the world. At some point in our lives we need to realize that our
time here on earth is very, very brief. The Lord God has created us for a much
higher purpose than simply growing up, raising a family, getting a job and owning
things. He made us to be spreaders of His Truth, like honeybees distributing
pollen from flower to flower.
The Bible is the infallible Word of God--every word of it is true! I like to
think of God's Word as pollen; its purpose is to change the hearts and lives
of people. Unlike flowers, however, we can choose to prevent God's "divine
pollen" from landing on us and having an effect. But all we have to do
is let a little of His Truth into our lives and it will have a profound impact
on us!
As the rain and the snow come down from heaven,
and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish,
so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is My Word
that goes out from My mouth: It will not return to Me empty, but will accomplish
what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.
Isaiah 55:10, 11
If you know Jesus, let me encourage you to study the Bible
every day. Let His Word ripen in you and produce good fruit in your life!
If you've never committed your life to Christ, please consider doing it right
now! As the Bible clearly states, your life is like that of a flower; it will
be over before you know it! You can, however, live in God's paradise forever
in a new body with unfading beauty. All you need do is confess to God that you
are a sinner and that you need His Son, Jesus Christ, to forgive you of your
sins. Christ died on a cross to pay the penalty for your rebellion against His
Father.
For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only
Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.
John 3:16
Like pollen to a flower, allow Him to come into you and fulfill
the ultimate purpose of your life, to know God! In you, He will place eternal
seeds that will survive your death and go on to produce a new body for you in
heaven-one that will never die! Please take a minute to pray the simple prayer
that follows:
Dear God, I recognize that I have lived my life independently
of You and You consider this sin. Please forgive me through your Son, Jesus
Christ--through His death on the cross. Jesus, please come into my heart
right now and become my King and my God. I accept your gift of eternal life.
Show me how to live the way You want me to live. In the name of the Lord
Jesus Christ I pray, Amen.
Contact us at HIS CREATION if you made this commitment. We
want to help!
Notes:
7 - Hebrew for Jesus
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