I stopped and smelled the roses                                                             

                                                       and my life didn’t fall apart….

As a perfectionist, I spend my days lost in the crux of my own mind. I get bogged down and mired by the details of life, by the never-ending thoughts of perfection, that I forget that life is happening all around me and also to me. If I don’t open my eyes to it, I’ll miss what life is trying to show me, in the here and now. I’ll miss the roses.

The roses dance in front of my face, and I always seemed to miss them. Though they were rich in color, and swayed in the wind, as if trying to get my attention, I still missed them. I didn’t know how to quiet my mind to enjoy the simplicity and beauty of a simple rose.

Taking time to smell the roses, felt like a waste in comparison to all the work I needed to complete. Focusing on the work made it easy to forget what really mattered in life. Not just the what, but also the who. After all, the beauty of this world was not created by accident. It was created for a purpose too big to just ignore it.

Human wisdom often confuses us into believing that our discoveries are the origin of everything. We forget that there was an artist with a mind so vast and so deep. An artist that imparted all He knew into the world, hidden just enough to be discovered.

His mysteries are like rare and powerful treasures that once discovered, leaves you in awe of the creator they belong to. The Bible brings this to life in the story of two sisters named Martha and Mary, found in the book of Luke (Luke 10:38-42).

Mary was consumed by Jesus’s presence. She sat at His feet eagerly with awe, listening to what He had to say. Whereas her sister Martha was too consumed with the preparations that had to be made. Martha annoyed by her sister’s lack of help, complained to Jesus about Mary,

⁴⁰“Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!” Jesus replied, “⁴¹Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, ⁴² but few things are needed—or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”

Many of us are like Martha. Always feeling like we have to be doing. We work in hopes of pleasing God. Yet, Mary understood this important wisdom, “pleasing God is not about our works, it’s about our faith. Our faith in the one we should fear, by being in total awe of Him.”

To be in awe of God is to fear the Lord. To fear the Lord is the beginning of knowledge (Proverbs 1:7). That knowledge we gain is so precious and rare, a miracle in and of itself, that it demands our full attention.

Mary was the example of this when she chose to forgo her home duties to sit at the feet of Jesus. For she understood His presence was a gift. She stopped to smell the roses instead of chasing all the flowers.  

Human striving wasn’t God’s design.

It’s what man adapted after the fall. The problem with this way of life, is it is too dependent on self and not enough on God. “Do as thou wilt” has become the calling card of humanity. We forget that doing whatever we see best for our own lives impacts generations after us.

How can one truly take time to smell the roses, when everything around them seems to be calling their name in every other direction?

“Get the bag,” has become as synonymous with the saying, “What would Jesus do?” We stopped asking that question so our conscience would be free to chase the ways of man and money.

But what would happen if we slowed down for just a moment, to stop striving for the gains of this world, and trying to prove our value based on the temporary things of life?

Would we have time to smell the roses?

Would we appreciate the beautiful view in front of us etched out meticulously by the Creator- God Himself?

Maybe then we’d realize, taking a moment to rest and bask in the awe of God, doesn’t take away from our life… but adds to it.

There will always be work to be done. There will always be a dream to chase or a purpose to be fulfilled. However, being in the presence of God, and willingly taking Him in, that is priceless. There is no amount of striving or working that can gain you that access.

As Mary showed us, to know God is to willingly put down everything to pursue Him. Jesus makes this clear in the Gospels. To be a follower of Jesus, one must deny themselves, take up their cross, and follow Him (John 14:6).

I’ve come to realize in all my striving, my nearness to God only came when I stopped working and started seeking Him.

The world does a good job of marketing itself. It offers you instant gratification, wealth, and status beyond your wildest dream. What it doesn’t tell you in the fine print is what it’ll cost you to gain it.

However, God is very clear what it costs us to follow Him. Our time, our patience, our sacrifice, our willingness to let go of our own way to follow His. Though the burden is light, there’s still a cross we have to carry. That cross is the difference between true freedom and complete bondage.

What I found when I stopped trying to strive for God and take in everything at once, I could take time to smell one rose. In doing so, I found God in the hidden places I didn’t know He lived. I found peace in the chaos because the chaos no longer could control my every move.

My decisions and choices stopped being about how I could prove my value to God but instead they became centered on the mere fact that it was He who empowered me in the first place to do.

The idea that the world would keep spinning if I sat at the feet of Jesus like Mary, and not stay busy like Martha, was a scary reality I was afraid to walk into. After all, I was used to having to  work to prove my worth. I didn’t know any other way.

Until God came along and showed me, all He wanted was just me. Not my talents, not my work, but my heart and my presence.

Besides, my talents and my works belong to Him anyways, how else do I have them to begin with?

I stopped to smell the roses and my world didn’t fall apart. It started coming together again but this time, the pieces all started falling in the right place.

I no longer needed to strive to prove anything to God. Instead, I needed to learn to take Him in, be in awe of Him, and learn from Him at His speed. His rest is real but so is His presence.

Jesus commands us to seek first the Kingdom of God (Matthew 6:33). It’s impossible to seek His Kingdom while trying to build your own kingdom.

I had to lay down my own way and start to walk at His pace. In doing so, I stopped looking at all the flowers around me and stopped to smell the one right in front of me. I smiled knowing my creator made this wonderful flower and that left me in awe of Him.

Take time to smell the flowers in your life, because tomorrow is not always promised. Don’t miss out on God right in front of you, because you were too busy chasing everything else around you.

He is worth the moment of pause, the slowed down life, because He is the reward of such a choice.

Stop and smell the flowers, and I promise you; your world won’t fall apart either.

#ruthnyej

Blog Verses:

(Luke 10:38-42): ³⁸ As Jesus and the disciples continued on their way to Jerusalem, they came to a certain village where a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. ³⁹ Her sister, Mary, sat at the Lord’s feet, listening to what he taught. ⁴⁰ But Martha was distracted by the big dinner she was preparing. She came to Jesus and said, “Lord, doesn’t it seem unfair to you that my sister just sits here while I do all the work? Tell her to come and help me.” ⁴¹ But the Lord said to her, “My dear Martha, you are worried and upset over all these details! ⁴² There is only one thing worth being concerned about. Mary has discovered it, and it will not be taken away from her.”

(Proverbs 1:7): Fear of the Lord is the foundation of true knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline.

(John 14:6): Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.

(Matthew 6:33): Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.

(Matthew 6:28-30): ²⁸ “And why worry about your clothing? Look at the lilies of the field and how they grow. They don’t work or make their clothing, ²⁹ yet Solomon in all his glory was not dressed as beautifully as they are. ³⁰ And if God cares so wonderfully for wildflowers that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow, he will certainly care for you. Why do you have so little faith?