“I will praise the Lord, who guides me; even at night my heart instructs me. I keep my eyes always on the Lord. With him at my right hand, I will not be shaken. Therefore, my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body also will rest secure, because you will not abandon me to the realm of the dead, nor will you let your faithful one see decay. You make known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.”

Psalms 16:7-11

It’s that time of year when we get to enjoy fields of sunflowers! I love their bright and cheerful faces and the fact that they always seem to be smiling back at us! And I’ve always been intrigued by the fact that they follow the sun!

Not only do they resemble their name – a flower that looks like the sun- but they also display their attraction to the light by standing tall and turning their face throughout the day, following the direction of the sun. At night they lay their faces in the West and reset towards the East, eagerly awaiting the brightness of tomorrow.

But if you’ve ever brought a sunflower inside it droops it’s face downward. Take it outside, and it comes back to life.

And I know that sometimes in life we can feel like the sunflower that’s been brought in out of the sun. Our faces droop, our joy stoops, our eyes are blinded, and our minds can seem clouded by darkness. But just as the sunflower rejuvenates in the physical light of the sun, we can find revival in the spiritual light of Jesus. We can be assured of the brightness of tomorrow when we keep our eyes fixed on Him.

Jesus is the Light of the world, and when we faithfully seek Him, our source of Life, we can find peace and joy through all of our cloudy days.

Sunflowers are natural followers of the light. As believers, we too should become natural followers of our light, Jesus. It’s not always easy to do what the sunflowers do; to stand tall, turn our faces toward the Son, and resemble our identity as followers of Christ. But the more we move towards Jesus, the more natural it becomes.

Helen Keller once said “Keep your face to the sunshine and you cannot see the shadows”.

Today, let’s keep our face toward the light of the world so the darkness cannot overcome it. Let’s embrace the light of life so we can’t see the shadows! Let’s do what the sunflowers do with bright and cheerful faces, smiling back at world with glad hearts and rejoicing tongues, because, we cannot be shaken.

“I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life”.

John 8:12

Saturday Soul Search