“Muddy water is best cleared when you be still and be reminded of the beauty Jesus can bring in that stillness of the chaos we call life.”

By Misty Strieff Prine

“May I live like the Lotus at ease in the muddy water.” – Unknown.

            I have heard of a lotus flower but never knew the meaning...until I researched it today...and I thought it was fitting for this week’s message. A lotus flower is a stunningly beautiful flower that lives amid murky pond waters. Its beauty radiates to those who see it as it sits among the muddy, still pond water. It symbolizes three very important things: purity, beauty and rebirth. One amazing thing about it is that each night, it is observed that the lotus closes its flowers and sinks into the muddy water. Over a three-day period, the lotus slowly emerges from the muddy water and then blooms in the morning until mid-afternoon. This may take on different meanings to different folks, but here is what it means to me.

We live amid a dark, gloomy and sinful word. But there is a hope that we have that only comes from our Lord Jesus Christ. He came so that we could have that hope. He knew that we were going to have some very dark days and even darker nights. He knew that, just like the lotus flower, we would close our walls up and easily sink amid the darkness we are surrounded with. He gives us a promise in Psalm 30:5 that reminds us that weeping may endure for the night, but joy is going to come in the morning. Will things get better immediately? Nope. Just like it takes the lotus flower three days to come up out of the muck and the mud, it's going to take some time. You must be patient. But look at what happens to the lotus flower after those days...it comes up beautifully renewed and even more beautiful than when it went down. That happens to us when we allow Jesus to do the mending of our hearts and our lives. Bad decisions bring sin, and sin brings darkness and blotches to our lives. When we ask the Lord to forgive us, He washes our lives as white as snow and we rise to face a new day with an amazing testimony as to what OUR God can do. That beauty, the beauty that only comes from Him, shines amid the darkness in our world. That beauty shines in a way against the muddy muck so that Jesus's touch in our lives is all they see.

The difference Jesus makes in our lives is truly amazing. So I pray that we all try to remember that the next time we face muddy waters in this life, so that we can live at peace knowing that the LILLY OF THE VALLEY loves us enough to bring beauty out of the ashes day after day. Our lives are a work in progress. I pray that you cling to the hope that God brings when you know Him. Do you know Him today? I pray so. If not, don't put off that decision any longer. Don't try to take on this world alone. You are literally a sinking ship if you do. Let Him give you the ability to rise up and turn the worst day into something beautiful.

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