“… I came so that they would have life and have it abundantly.” John 10:10

They are settling in now. They have been watered, fertilized, mulched, and prayed over. The recent additions to our garden have received everything they need to survive. Thriving will be a different matter.

For us humans, thrive is a tricky word. It conjures up notions of robust action, of pressing forward, hand to the plow until we finally allow ourselves the luxury of looking up to survey and savor the fruits of our labor. But I am convinced thriving has less to do with hard work, and like our new garden occupants, more to do with giving ourselves permission to settle in exactly where God has planted us to draw from all we find there.

Still, we are a temperamental lot, are we not? Conditions must be right before we dig into that abundant life Jesus talks about. So, we place ourselves in holding patterns and scroll to experience the thriving of others in ten second intervals. But when is it our turn? What’s holding us back?

Is it Time?
Location?
People?
Resources?
Emotions?
Guilt?
Obstacles?
Age?

I’m afraid we have no excuses. After all…

John the Baptist thrived in the wilderness with a single unprecedented message. (Matthew 3:1-17)

Daniel thrived on vegetables, water, and a conviction to honor the One True God while his contemporaries dined on steak and wine in the courts of the king. (Daniel 1:1-21)

Paul, releasing his past, joined Silas in thriving amongst strangers and reached through prison bars to bring the hope of the gospel to those whose hope had run out. (Acts 16: 16-34)

Ruth, despite her grief, thrived amongst the wheat fields of a foreign land and secured her surprising place in the lineage of Jesus. (Ruth 1-4)

And then there’s Joshua, who thrived with strength and courage after heeding God’s call to step into some pretty epic shoes following Moses’s death and lead God’s people into the Promised Land. He crossed the Jordan River, saw the walls of Jericho come tumbling down, reigned victorious on many a battlefield, distributed the territories of Canaan to the twelve tribes, and constantly reminded the Israelites of God’s faithfulness. And did I mention Joshua was roughly 82 when all of this started? (Joshua 1-24)

So, what’s your calling? Where’s your passion? Where do your talents lie? What has God scattered around you that needs to be picked up?

Get on with it!

Someone once said,

“We carry within us the wonders we seek.”

Sometimes the only thing lacking is to give yourself permission to find out what those wonders are. That journey of discovery, dear friend, will give you a blissful idea of what it really means to thrive.