Let's Learn From the Sunflower

As I was praying for certain groups of people recently, this phrase came up in my spirit: "Learn from the Sunflower."

I pondered this for awhile and then went and looked up more information on this unique flower known for rolling the sun. But to my surprise, the sunflower doesn't actually follow the sun. Instead, it sets it's leaves to receive the sun in the east and then follows it to full mass overhead, only to stay there until the sun sets, preparing to position itself again for the rising of the sun in the east the next morning. In other words, the sunflower never fully looks to the west.

Lesson learned! The sunflower is ever ready for the sun. It knows where it comes from and where it will return.

The wise men came to Jerusalem, saying, "Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him" (Matthew 2:1-2). And Jesus foretold how to find Him again: "For as the lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be" (Matthew 24:27).

In both cases, Jesus wasn't found in the setting of the sun, but in it's place of rising.

Sadly, in our world today, it seems the sunflower is more prepared for the return of Jesus than most people. Isaiah said, "I am the Lord, and there is no other; there is no God besides Me. I will gird you, though you have not known Me, that they may know from the rising of the sun to its setting that there is none besides Me. I am the Lord, and there is no other" (Isaiah 45:5-6).

From the rising of the sun to its setting… I believe God intended for this clockwork to give us a vivid picture of how to live prepared.

When we rise in the morning, our thoughts should be on the Lord. As the day continues, our thoughts should never wander far from Him. And each night, we should position ourselves again to rise with the "Son" in our hearts and on our minds.

But another interesting fact about the sunflower is its uniformity. A field of sunflowers is amazing to see. Every single flower is parallel to the other flowers around it. Because the sun is their central focus, they are all unified together in their position.

I think this is another lesson. The Bible says, "Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity" (Psalm 133:1). In other words, it pleases God when His children are unified in purpose and poise.

And the world will stop to see it! Just like a field of uniformed sunflowers catches our eye, so does a group of believers united together.

But there's another type of sunflowers that are simply wild. They are typically found on the side of highways or in fields of corn or wheat, where they are labeled as "weeds." 

Interestingly, these wild sunflowers still look for the sun, but not together.

One is facing up, while another is facing down, while a few others are off in la-la-land just blowing in the wind. Does this sound like some people you know?

In learning from the sunflower by comparing our lives to their natural instincts, we have to be careful we're not emulating the wild sunflowers who have no uniformity and are lost in purpose. The wild sunflower "looks" like the real deal, but watch its pattern of living and you'll soon see the difference.

The same can be true for Christians--which is why we should remember the words of Paul: "Imitate me, just as I also imitate Christ" (1 Corinthians 11:1). If we all strive for this goal, the world would be amazed.

So yes, we should learn from the sunflower. And I pray it will never be more ready than we are for the return of God's SON.