Stop and look at the flowers.

Open. Shut them. Open. Shut them. Wave them in the air, air, air. Open. Shut them. Open. Shut them. Fold them for our prayer, prayer, prayer.

Words that used to be said before prayer time at the day care where I used to work. I now say them with the kids when I get to pray with them before lunch. Sometimes it doesn't happen. Sometimes it does. I was out for a drive yesterday morning and went by some flowers. It was early and they were still closed. I laughed at myself because I referenced my least favorite Disney movie in that moment. "The skies awake, so I'm awake." Apparently the flowers missed their alarm clock, despite the fact that it was cold, I didn't blame them. Gloomy, yucky, and rainy.

Scientific disclaimer. NOT ALL flowers close at night. Let's just pretend for the sake of this analogy, that they do. K? Thanks.

I continued to drive homeward and God showed me something pretty awesome. The flowers are smarter than we are. At night a flower shuts. When the sun comes up again, it opens and soaks up the nutrients from it. Then at night, they shut again. Like God tucks them in and they go to sleep until daylight.

The lifelong analogy that darkness means evil and light means good. At night, or when the evil comes knocking at the flowers door, they close. They open with the morning sun, the appearance of goodness, and soak up the son/sun. I've heard all my life, what's done in the dark will be brought to the light. (I just sang that as Johnny Cash in my head as I typed.) It's very true too.

Look at it differently, if you want to get extremely scientific. 

I'm going to attempt to do this without going insanely into overdrive. We shall see.

The Petal (Coralla) is what attracts other insects. Our "body" isn't what I would compare that too. I know that instantly that's what someone might think. That's what my first instinct was. Thank God He stopped me. The Petal is our actions. How we act is what attracts or pushes people away. The reflection of Christ within us, is what attracts them to us. 

We know from Science class, that some flowers are male and some are female. Insects carry pollen from plant to plant to start the process of reproduction. (Gross) Look at it this way. When we are giving off the love of Christ, people draw near to us. Those people have a reaction to our personality and return that to others. It passes from person to person until the whole earth is filled with joy, in a perfect world......

At night the flower closes to protect that important thing within them that makes it able to reproduce. The petals protect it from inclement weather. If we are filled with Joy and Faith, it's hard for the enemy to attack us. I used to have this unwavering faith. Of course, time and circumstances has made that unwavering faith dwindle. My own fault. But if we have strong faith the enemy just has nothing on us. Like a flower that closes at night. The enemy could be all around and the flower is just thinking, "Hey dude. You can't touch this." (STOP HAMMER TIME)

We need to spend time "looking at the flowers". Think about how the faith of a person protects them from the enemy. A flower closes because it's the normal reaction to the darkness. So, why do we tend to not deny the enemy when he comes to call? Thought for your day!