Encouragement

---

I’m not sure why I saved it.

It fell out of a page in my journal yesterday, reminding me of a conference I attended one summer.

Dried, crusty. Having lost its scent long ago, I decided to trash it.

But then I stopped. And suddenly I remembered.

It was a summer camp with several hundred young people, and the idea came up for a fund-raiser as a student project. They decided to sell single long-stemmed roses to the students, placing them on the assigned auditorium seat the buyer specified. Many people, including me, were sent red roses that first night. Finding it on my seat, I promptly stuffed it under my chair and then later gave it away. Regardless of who had given it to me, the rose held no special importance.

The next morning I entered the auditorium and was shocked to find a small spring bouquet of daffodils sitting on my chair. I picked them up and breathed deeply. Carrying them to my room later on, I gently placed one of them in between the pages of my journal.

The daffodil had not been ordered, and was not one of many. It was unique, and had been handpicked just that morning.

Have you ever felt like you were on the receiving end of a mass order? When you open up your mailbox and the only thing inside is the same envelope thousands of others are opening at the same time? When you don’t care who it is from, because they don’t even know who you are?

But there is good news.

Just as I found that special bouquet waiting for me, our Lord has a special love that is yearning for you. God does not believe in bulk delivery, and he never uses normal ordering procedures. He custom designs, perfectly creates…and handpicks with you in mind.

So the message you received this morning as you were reading His Word? It’s not a duplicate, but an original. The peace you felt when your world was crumbling? God created it for you. He went to the cross with your name on His heart.

Breathe in the scent of His love, and then tuck it away in the pages of your heart. Let His love embrace you, because the Father sees you as the beautiful, individual child you are.

---

PLEASE ENCOURAGE AUTHOR BELOW LEAVE COMMENT ON ARTICLE