I looked out my window this morning and saw something surprising in our overgrown “flower” patch.

This flower was so entangled in the weeds I had to cut back greenery all around it to snap a photo.

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I knew God was speaking through this flower and will explain why soon. But I also wondered, “What are You saying?” I felt confused, which is usually how I feel when God seems to be whispering.

Several years ago, I shared with friends that God was whispering, calling me into something new but I was stuck in the weeds of my fear and misplaced identity, and I had shrunk God down to my own size again. But those are other stories for another day.

My friend had a prophetic word for me that night several years ago about a stick of a plant above ground in winter.

That stick was me. “But a blossom is coming,” she said. Three times this spring, a flower blossom has surprisingly appeared even though I did nothing or very little for ten years, thirteen years, and more than twenty years as amaryllis, a lilac, and now this peony appeared out of nowhere.

I didn’t plant a peony.

We’ve lived in this home for thirteen years, and this is the first time a peony blossom has appeared in the flower garden the previous owners planted. I didn’t know one of the plants without flowers (was it a also weed?) was a peony.  The peony was my favourite flower when we lived in another home.

Perhaps because the blossoms on this flower are so remarkable, the peony had become a symbol of this word about a blossoming season that is coming.

I had a photo of a peony on my iPad wallpaper and a painting of peonies hanging on my physical wall for a long time, symbolizing a blossoming season that is coming, God seemed to whisper.

I had filled dozens of journals in the last few years, but early this week. I sensed God asking me to purchase this journal, which features an artistic rendition of peonies on its cover.

And today, one peony appeared amidst the weeds of my garden.

What did it all mean?

We can make several mistakes when our ears start itching with the things God is saying and we try to interpret His heavenly language into our own language.

Here are three common ones:

1. The biggest mistake most of us make is forgetting to put our ears on. God is speaking? Huh? And we go back to our snacks and our video games.
2. The second typical response to the whispers of God is a knee-jerk reaction that ends up being a bit of a kick to God in the stomach. The knee-jerk reaction is, “Oh! My tiny little brain already knows what you would say to me, God!” We assume. And so we put layers of meaning onto the beautiful whispers of God that he never intended. He shakes his head sadly nearby, his heart grieved.
3. The third mistake is the one that we can never get rid of, and that is the leech of arrogance that attaches itself to us. We can never seem to fully pull it off no matter how hard we try. If we remove this leech from our shoulder, a new one will be attached to our leg. A tendency toward arrogance is something we live with.

What are the solutions to these three problems?

1. We sit at the feet of Jesus, and open the book containing His message to humanity. He doesn’t speak outside the boundaries of his love, which is recorded in this book, climaxing in the death of Jesus so that our souls can be presented as a love offering to the God of the universe if we so want this.
2. And then we ask God. We got one drop of water on our parched throats. We come to Jesus, bringing our empty water glasses and asking him for more. Holy Spirit holds a pitcher of water that will overflow our largest water glass, satisfying our souls when we come to him thirsty.
3. Will we stand up and walk in a new direction if Jesus seems to be nudging our elbow, asking us to get up off the floor where we are stuck? Will we surrender?

With these three attitudes – honesty (that we are spiritually lost and confused again), thirst and surrender- we are ready to take our next step on our spiritual journeys.

Is the map you received becoming a bit less blurry for your next step, friend?

Mine too.

Let’s rest here at this cabin in the woods before we go our separate ways on our journeys following Jesus.

I’ll tell you more about what I think God may have been whispering through the surprise of a peony in an unkept garden next time.