A Flourishing Mind

It was a snowy Colorado day, and the sun was shining bright as we experienced it here in the Mile-High City. Though I usually love those days, this day was especially hard, as I was flooded with hurtful thoughts about a family situation that I was helpless to change. Thoughts of despair led to thoughts of anguish until I felt like I was tumbling into a dark hole of depression.

As my heart cried unto the Lord, a sweet friend reached out to me. She knew of my situation and encouraged me to meet her at a cute boutique in a small Colorado town. As we shopped, her happy personality was pleasant to be around, but deep inside my mind, I was heavy and struggling to see anything positive. At one point, I wandered off into the little store by myself, looking at the cute gift items on the rustic Colorado shelves, when I suddenly saw a very unusual piece. It was a planter that looked like a woman’s head, bursting with greenery and flowers resembling hair. I stood staring at this planter, amused at how silly it looked when unexpectedly and faithfully, the Holy Spirit began talking to me. He told me that I wasn’t losing my mind (which, at times of deepest sorrow, I wondered if I would ever think right again), and He began telling me that I was actually flourishing in my thoughts and circumstances! How could this be, I wondered? I just stood there in front of that planter, stunned by what the Lord was revealing to me. It was like a summer breeze blowing through the clutter of my mind on a cold winter’s day! In an instant—yet it seemed like a lengthy time—the Lord reminded me of all the times I had prayed, even when I didn’t feel like it. He reminded me of all the times I read His Word and marked in my Bible His promises in my desperation to hear from Him. He reminded me of the times I praised and worshipped Him when I was crying inside with hurt and disappointment, and the times I “stayed in position” in my ministry when it was very hard to do so. As my mighty, caring Savior flashed all of this before me; He told me that His rhema word had been watering all my thoughts, and my mind was actually flourishing like this planter woman! Isaiah 35:1-4 says, “The wilderness and the wasteland shall be glad for them, and the desert shall rejoice and blossom as the rose; It shall blossom abundantly and rejoice, even with joy and singing” (NKJV).

The word “flourish”1 means deep, vigorous growth. It also means bold, extravagant action. And truly “flourishing” means clinging to God’s promises for your life in the good times and in the bad. It doesn’t mean you have to pretend and always put on a happy-happy-joy-joy face pretending that everything is fine when it is not fine. Sometimes flourishing comes when you are struggling the most to barely hang on. Second Corinthians 12:10 reminds us, “….for when I am weak, then I am strong” (KJV).

God’s ways are higher than ours, and He never ceases to amaze me because He takes what doesn’t make sense to our natural minds and causes us to realize that our spiritual minds can thrive despite negative turmoil. When we press through our limiting issues with prayer, reading the Bible, faithfully attending worship services, singing, and praising Him in song, and working in ministry serving others while our own hearts are hurting, we will encounter the Master Gardener directly. I like to say that Jesus is our “Mind Gardener.” He digs out the junk that clogs our minds, and He cultivates the soil of our mind by loosening it and breaking it up so that the Word can be planted in the depths of the very interior of our brains. He is then faithful to fertilize and water our thoughts with music that praises and worships Him. He even transplants wrong seed thoughts with righteous thinking as we practice Philippians 4:8. “Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is

admirable, if anything is excellent or praiseworthy, think about such things”  (NIV).  We must consistently practice to think on these good things. Instead of letting our minds wander to the negative and sorrowful thoughts, we must be diligent to strengthen our minds by practicing Phil. 4:8. When we obey this scripture, we will find strength and a sound mind. Our Master Gardener also prunes us of things, and even people, who must be removed from our lives. As we stay steadfast in our positions of ministry, He prunes our struggling thoughts to see the needs of others, and He prunes us to look beyond our own problems to work and serve the Kingdom and His people. These times of pruning are painful, but when we stay committed and do the work of ministry despite our issues and hurts, we will experience total flourish!

You may think that your circumstances are causing your life to pause and wilt, but if you truly love the Lord and remain in the vine, He is working diligently in the garden of your mind. You are not losing your mind! The Master Gardener is tilling the ground of your thoughts so you will have a sound mind, “For God has not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind” (2 Tim. 1:7 NKJV). You are a much stronger woman of faith than you may realize. In fact, Psalm 92:12-14 tells us, “The righteous will flourish like a palm tree, they will grow like a cedar of Lebanon; planted in the house of the Lord, they will flourish in the courts of our God. They will still bear fruit in old age, they will stay fresh and green” (NIV). You are flourishing in your mind more than you realize because you have remained faithful.

By the way, I bought the planter woman. I don’t think she’s “silly” anymore…she’s a reminder of what the Lord said to me on that snowy yet sunny Colorado day. She reminds me that God has caused my mind to flourish and bloom even in difficult places.