Bloom Where You Are Planted

There is a book I love; I have read it several times in the last 10 years. Next to the Bible it has probably been one of the most influential books in my life. This book is Loving God With All Your Mind by Elizabeth George. It has taught me, reminded me and drawn me deeper into God’s Word every time I have read it. I picked it up again a few weeks ago because scripture after scripture that the Lord has put upon my heart for meditation was about my mind.

You see, I have been struggling; in the last couple years God has picked up our family and moved us from what feels like one end of the country to the other. Each move has been God’s leading and we are where we are supposed to be but what I have been struggling with is a feeling that I can only describe as a lack of security. I am not by nature an adventurous person, so moving like this is way out of my comfort zone. At times it has felt like God has given me way beyond what I can handle and I guess the truth is He has given me more than I can handle on my own, but I am not on my own, He is with me. In that complete shock of being ripped out of my comfort zone time and time again I sometimes find myself grasping for something, anything that is still in my comfort zone…sometimes I feel like that drowning person in the movies that has their arms flailing all over looking for something to hold onto. And that reaching and searching appears sometimes physically in my desire for routine and schedule or in how I make sure our family times are special and that I get time with just my husband. But the biggest flailing around is not physical but is happening in my mind.

I read once “Every spiritual battle is won or lost at the threshold of the mind.” And what a battle it is! Paul in 2 Corinthians 11:3 shares his heart with the Corinthians, he says, “I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpents cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotions to Christ.” These were people who had a sincere and pure devotion to Christ and Paul was afraid for them because of what can happen in the mind.

Lord, I have that fear for myself at times, when the battle is ragging and being led astray is the last thing I want.

I can sympathize with the Israelites in Exodus 32 when they asked Aaron to make them a god to go before them. Aaron collected all their gold, threw it in the fire and made a golden calf. It’s funny how we can read these wanderings, stubbornness and backsliding of the Israelites and shake our heads at them as if they are completely off their rockers. It’s funny because most of us do the same things. The Israelites at this time had been waiting for Moses to come down from the mountain, it had been longer than they had expected and I would guess that fear was rearing its ugly head in their hearts and minds. They were completely out of their “comfort zone” I can’t imagine the battle they were having in their own minds. I am sure they were flailing around looking for something to hold onto and their leader Moses wasn’t there to direct them to God so they went with what they knew. In Egypt, where they had spent the last 400 years, the gods of the Egyptians were idols, something they could see or touch, and the bull was a well-known god. So the Israelites went back to what they knew, what was in their comfort zone. That doesn’t make it right but I can understand the need they felt to hold onto something.

For me, I believe that lack of security I feel is because God has not given me an itinerary. God has tossed me out in what often feels like an ocean; sometimes I flail around like I am drowning looking for something to hold onto like an itinerary. When all I really have to do is stand up on the promises of God and know that I can trust Him to do good by me in whatever is next because He loves me. He is teaching me to trust in Him alone.

That battle in my mind is the self-part of me that wants things my way and it has gotta go. I have given my life to Christ and asked Him to show me my heart and help me get rid of that ugly part that wants to serve me and not Him. He is doing exactly what I asked. I know in the end the battle will end on the side of good because the Lord is with me.


“The beginning of anxiety is the end of faith and the beginning of true faith is the end of anxiety.” George Mueller


I share my struggle because as mothers these battles of the mind are so important to win. We have little imitators around us everyday. Our children look up to us, follow and copy what we do and I know that none of us want to lead them astray because we are not strengthening our own minds. I am not yet on the other side of my battle but I can gladly say that things are looking up and I wanted to share with you a few of the things that have helped me.

*In Elizabeth George’s book, to keep herself on course there are 3 questions she asks herself from time to time:

1. Am I focusing my efforts toward the prize that awaits at the end or am I too content watching other peoples efforts?
2. Am I “training” regularly and “working” out the daily disciplines of the Christian life?
3. Am I properly fueling my body with sleep, nutrition and exercise for maximum results?

*Bloom where you are planted (Elizabeth George) - Whether God leaves me in one place for the next 20 years or moves me every other year I need to bloom where I am planted. That battle in my mind has got to be won. The flailing around needs to stop and I need to realize that my only true comfort zone is that of Jesus Christ and I can bloom wherever He puts me.

*You keep in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on you. -Isaiah 26:3

*For growth to occur there must be tension in our lives. –Elizabeth George

*The story of Joseph in Genesis. There is a man who bloomed where he was planted.

*Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding in all your ways acknowledge him and he will make your path straight. –Proverbs 3:5-6

*Tammy’s Blog from earlier this week titled New Year, New Hope…It was beautifully written and truly encouraging

Are you blooming where you are planted? Ask yourself those 3 questions and really do some heart searching for the answers. Is there a battle in your mind that is keeping you from blooming and serving your God and your family the best you can?

Lord, help us to train our minds on you, give us wisdom and discernment to know when it is that self in us talking, battling with the truth that lives in us. Give us the courage and strength to bloom where you have planted us. Help us to be the mothers, wives that you have created us to be.