My husband was headed to a Big Box store and I requested an Amaryllis bulb.  We grow one every year in time for blooms by Christmas.

He returned with an Amaryllis bulb in a closed box. Inside a cramped stem was growing at an angle of about 8:45 on an analog clock. Not encouraging. The heavy, four-trumpet blooms of an Amaryllis need a sturdy straight stem that can evenly distribute their weight and prevent toppling.

Instead of being packed in dirt, this bulb came with a hard, flat disc the color of tobacco. Following directions, I put that dry disc in a container, added water and waited 15 minutes. Unbelievably, it swelled to become a pot full of soil into which I planted the bulb.

I put the pot in a sunny spot with the instruction to rotate daily. Below is the progression I witnessed.

Consider the object lesson. Our souls get bent and bowed by life. It can look for all the world like we’ll never straighten up; hopeless. But God, seeing not what we are but what we can be, calls us out of the dark dry confines of the world and into the light, where we can really live, breathe, flourish.

Jesus Christ, whose birth we celebrate as Christmas, is the Savior sent by God to make the crooked straight. (This is among my favorite refrains in Handel’s Messiah!)

He welcomes the broken, the bowed to come to Him. To those who come, He gives rest. He firmly plants us in the good soil of salvation, nourishes us with the water of His word and enables us to live in the light of His love.

Life looking bent beyond repair? Have faith in God’s ability to do what we cannot… and patience with ourselves and other bent souls. Just keep turning to the Son. In time, we will bloom as the Amaryllis!