Thoughts after reading:
God does nothing meaningless. Though some things don't match our conceptions, there is God's good intention. Just these things can show whether we truly listen to God's word, and whether we have true obedience of God.
Wang Gang
It was a dandelion, an unremarkable dandelion.
Spring came. All things began getting their new skins. When the almond tree and the peach tree were showing their beautiful blossoms, and when the colorful wild flowers in the bushes were blooming in the valleys, only the dandelion had no beautiful dress. It felt self-abased because of its ordinariness. Summer came. Leaves were flourishing, and flower buds opened out, and their blossoms were so beautiful. The dandelion was as ordinary as usual, without charming buds, let alone lovely petals. It felt self-abased. Then autumn came. Scenes of rich harvest spread out everywhere. Bountiful fruit and crops presented themselves to mankind and filled the barns. The dandelion was still as ordinary as usual. Without any fruit, it felt self-abased again, regarding itself as useless for the world. It was very sad, thinking its life was lived in vain.
With autumn wind blowing, the dandelion left the place that made it self-abased. In the wind it drifted on and on. Then, it landed on a swamp. There grew a tiny dark green grass, with no beautiful dress or rich fruit. The dandelion asked the tiny grass, “Why do you not leave such a dirty place?” The grass answered with its face wreathed in smiles, “Oh! This is my home. I am needed here.”
With autumn wind blowing, the dandelion left in bewilderment. In the wind it drifted on and on. Then it landed on a piece of barren land. A green bristle grass grew there, with no beautiful dress or rich fruit, and covered with dust. The dandelion asked it, “There is little water in this barren land. Why do you stay here?” The green bristle grass answered, “Oh! This is my home. I am needed here.”
With autumn wind blowing, the dandelion left in confusion. In the wind it drifted on and on. Then it landed on a cliff. It saw a snow lotus rooted in the rock crevice. Below it was the cliff. How dangerous it was! The dandelion asked the snow lotus anxiously, “Why don’t you leave such a dangerous place? Though you are with beautiful dress and bountiful fruit, no one will come to admire you in such a remote and dangerous place.”
The snow lotus smiled and answered, “I don’t care whether others admire my appearance. I only adhere to the life course set for me by the Creator and submit to His predestination. For all things created by the Creator have their respective life courses and functions, no matter what kind of environments they live in.” The dandelion said to the snow lotus in self-abasement, “But I have never found what is the use of me. Even a gentle wind can blow me away.”
The snow lotus said smilingly, “Every single thing the Creator created has significance. If He created something without significance, He would let it disappear.”
Hearing the snow lotus’ words, the dandelion felt relieved instantly. It thought of the tiny grass and the green bristle grass it met on the road: Though they are ordinary, they face everything smilingly without any complaint, because they know it is the Creator’s predetermination and arrangement. So they all adhere to the course set for them by the Creator without their own choice. Then it thought of itself: I am unwilling to be ordinary and to obey the Creator’s arrangement, and I am always disobedient and self-abased. Thus I feel no happy.
When the dandelion was buried in thought, the autumn wind came up again. Then it flew into a pharmaceutical factory in a city. An amazing sight met its eyes: Many dandelions and various kinds of plants are there. Because of their medicinal properties, many human’s medicines are made from them. All things that God created are useful. Then the dandelion remembered what the snow lotus said, “Every single thing the Creator created has significance. If He created something without significance, He would let it disappear.” It turns out that an unremarkable tiny grass like dandelion also has some use and can make a little contribution to human beings! So, it doesn’t live in vain. The dandelion finally found its place and no longer felt self-abased. Having understood the significance and value with which the Creator creating it, the dandelion was full of joy.
Actually, aren’t we like the dandelion? We often feel self-abased because of our ordinariness, and complain to God because we think our family of birth, appearance, and living environment God has arranged for us are not good enough. We always complain about our ordinariness, struggle for shaking off the Creator’s predetermination and sovereignty of us. However, many times of struggle fails to bring the realization of our wishes, but on the contrary brings more pain on us. This is because we don’t know God, neither do we know the original intention of the Creator’s arrangements for everyone at all. In truth, all creatures are performing their duties in their place and carrying out their own functions. God’s word says, “The authority of the Creator not only gives the vitality of life to seemingly static material objects, so that they will never disappear, but, moreover, gives the instinct to reproduce and multiply to every living being, so that they will never vanish, and so that, generation after generation, they will pass on the laws and principles of survival endowed to them by the Creator.” “Once the words of God are uttered, the authority of God takes command of this work, and the fact promised by the mouth of God gradually begins to become a reality. Amongst all things, changes begin to occur in everything as a result, much like how, at the arrival of spring, the grass turns green, the flowers bloom, buds sprout from the trees, the birds begin to sing, the geese return, and the fields teem with people…. With the arrival of spring all things are rejuvenated, and this is the miraculous deed of the Creator. When God accomplishes His promises, all things in heaven and on earth renew and change in accordance with the thoughts of God—and none is exempt. When a commitment or promise is uttered from the mouth of God, all things serve its fulfillment, and are maneuvered for the sake of its fulfillment, and all creatures are orchestrated and arranged under the dominion of the Creator, and play their respective role, and serve their respective function. This is the manifestation of the Creator’s authority.” “God created the rules that govern all things so that they may exist in an interconnected and interdependent way; every single thing He created has value and significance. If God created something without significance, God would let it disappear. Understand? (Yes.) This is one of the methods He used in the provision of all things.” God’s words clearly tell us: God created all things, gave them the instinct to survive, and set down the laws and principles of survival for them. All things exist within God’s ordination and mutually depend on each other. So, all things created by God are good, and the surroundings arranged for us by Him are the best and the most suitable. God is righteous, and He is impartial to anyone. So in the face of the surroundings God has arranged for each of us, we should have an obedient and thankful heart, for everything He has arranged is for us to live better, and it includes His painstaking effort and price, and moreover, is brimming with His love and expectation for us.
God created all things, and all things in the place arranged by Him have done what they can, and in their particular way praised His miraculous deeds, manifested His glory, and submitted to His sovereignty and arrangements. As a member of the human race, no matter what our family of birth, living environment, and appearance, we should submit to God’s sovereignty and arrangements, and live to fulfill the missions the Creator has bestowed upon us. God’s word says, “He created man as an expression of Himself, to glorify Him and represent Him.” For this reason, as a created being, we should have a heart that worships God and obeys God, should regard knowing God as the right aim of life to pursue, and only such life is valuable and meaningful. This is just like the dandelion which found the value and significance of its existence at last—it no longer complained about the Creator’s sovereignty, was able to submit to God’s dominion to serve its function, and lived in happiness without self-abasement.
From The Gospel of the Kingdom of Heaven
