00:05Bloom where you are planted. Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart,
00:11as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance
00:17from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving, Colossians 3 verses 23 and 24.
00:25I will be honest with you, I did not always understand this verse. There was a season in
00:31my early career when I was far too focused on where I wanted to be rather than giving my best
00:37to where I actually was. I was in the not-for-profit sector in an in-between career season,
00:43more of a long-term intern than a fully employed professional. The promotions weren't arriving.
00:49The salary wasn't growing. I felt stagnant, frustrated, overlooked. In my mind, fruitfulness
00:57and pursuing purpose were what was coming next, not what was possible right here. Then one day
01:03in prayer, instead of the encouragement I was looking for, I received a gentle but firm rebuke
01:09from God. He showed me a mental picture of a beautiful flower thriving in a dirty street
01:15gutter. The Lord said to my spirit, Learn to bloom where you are planted. There is a reason
01:22I have put you here for such a time as this. Until you give your best in this place, I
01:27will
01:27not open a new door. That word landed hard, because it was true. I had been a reluctant,
01:35half-invested worker, saving my real energy for the future I was dreaming about. I hadn't stopped
01:41to be grateful for the fact that I even had a place to grow in. And the moment I shifted,
01:47genuinely committing, genuinely choosing gratitude, genuinely serving as unto the Lord,
01:53things began to change. Colossians 3 verse 23 doesn't say to work hard when the job is worthy of
02:00you. It says work at it with all your heart, because the person you are ultimately serving is not your
02:07employer. It is the Lord, and he is watching what you do with the season you are currently in.
02:14Prayer. Lord, forgive me for the seasons I have been half-present, saving my best for a future I
02:21could not yet see. Help me to bloom right where you have planted me today. I choose to give my
02:28best
02:28here, now, in this season, as unto you. I trust that when I am faithful with this, you will open
02:35what
02:35needs to be open next. Amen. Reflect. Is there a place, a job, a role, a relationship, a responsibility,
02:45where you have been withholding your best? What would it look like to truly bloom there?
