Sunflowers are beautiful to look at as they grow in the backyard.  They make a nice fresh flower arrangement for a table centerpiece.   The sunflower design is used very often in home decor.  My kitchen is done in sunflowers and birdhouses; everything from wall paper trim to dishes.

In the fall, when the sunflowers are dead, is when they reach their greatest potential.   The birds love sunflower seeds in the cold winter months.  Many people like roasted sunflower seeds.  The seeds are also harvested to press out the oil, which is used in cooking.

Sunflowers seeds don’t have a lot of potential until the flowers die.  Even then to really useful they must either be crushed or baked.  Sounds a bit like Christians to me.  Our best ministry and potential can only be realized when we die and let Jesus live through us.

Sometimes we have to go through the furnace to bring out our best qualities.  Our life situations, family dramas, and church relationships often make us feel like we are passing through the fires of purification.  In a way we are like gold and sunflowers; when we face the heat, we come forth in a more beautiful and useful form.

Like sunflowers, we too can be put through the press of tribulation.  We all have issues that are part of our lives that we must face.  It sometimes feels our very  life is being squeezed from us.  If sunflowers could feel and communicate, I bet they feel the same way.  Pressure brings out what is inside us, whether it be bad or good.  It’s relatively easy to put forth a good front when things are going well for us.  But, when the pressure is on; that’s when we lose our temper, or speak words of anger.  In Matthew 12:34b It says…” for out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaketh.”  What is in our hearts will come out when we are pressed.

A few years ago while on a mission trip to the Navajo Indian Reservation I took quite a fall.  I landed on a rough stone floor on my already bad knee.  I hit with such force that a a piece of flesh about a half an inch long, popped right out of my leg.  The pain was awful.The first thing out of my mouth was ,”Help me Jesus.”   The next thing was “Go get the team leaders, we need to pray.”

I was a little surprised at myself.  I felt like saying something else, not so nice.  But God knew what was really in my heart.  The team wanted me to go home and seek medical attention.  I chose to stay and pray through the pain and inconvenience.  We had a great harvest of souls that week and actually even baptized some of the children before we left for home.