What better way to take in the “flowers of the field” than to visit a field of flowers…look, look! My friend and trusted researcher, Kim Hagan, and I set out to do just that! Acting on a well-timed tip, we headed out for “Texas Tulips,” an otherwise common field nestled in north Texas farmland.
Take in the splendor of row after row planted in the bold bulbs, a true expression of cheerful confidence. I want my soul to look like a swath of tulips! Trusting, hopeful, bright, bold, secure. Would worry, then, have any chance of taking root? No way! In the straightforward form of these stunning flowers, let us simply remember where to search for such confidence: In God we trust.
I trust in you, LORD; I say, “You are my God.”
Psalm 31:14 NIV
Trust the Lord and do good; live in the land, and farm faithfulness.
Psalm 37:3 CEB
Tulips in the Bible
Tulips are not singled out by name in the Bible. However, most scholars are confident that tulips filled Scripture’s spring scenery, especially as relayed in the collection of wildflowers “appearing on the earth,” (Song of Songs 2:12) at the end of winter’s rainy season.
Today. wild tulips springing up across the uncultivated fields of Israel are generally shorter than our garden hybrids, and most all are colored vivid red. Contrasting black and yellow centers display as the flowers unfold and fade. Tulipa systola and Tulipa sharonensis are a few of the noted species growing in the holy land, though not easy to locate commercially. They are cherished as part of the “Nisan” springtime sequence of red floral profusion that delights citizens of the Middle East, kicked off with crown anemones and culminating in poppies.
For “digging in” to more on wild tulips for the garden, visit:
Time for Tulips by Garden in Delight
Buy Wild Tulips by Mariana Greene
Wildflower Tulips by Becky Heath
With the crazy amount of propagating and hybridizing of these treasured bulbs in the centuries since “tziytz “ and “nitzanium” were first named in God’s Word, it is a bit confusing to pinpoint the exact species or direct descendants of the natives that Bible authors would have been gazing upon. Instead, I confidently claim any tulip in my garden as a testimony to the beauty that comes from trust in the Lord.
I trust in God’s unfailing love for ever and ever.
Psalm 52:8 NIV
When I am afraid, I put my trust in you.
Psalm 56:3 NIV
Trust in the LORD with all your heart
Proverbs 3:5 NIV
Hezekiah put his whole trust in the God of Israel.
2 Kings 18:5 The Message
…things work out when you trust in God.
Proverbs 16:20 The Message
Behold, God is my saviour, I will deal confidently, and will not fear
Isaiah 12:2 DRA
You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you. Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord, the Lord himself, is the Rock eternal.
Isaiah 26:3-4 NIV
…blessed is the man who trusts me, God, the woman who sticks with God.
Jeremiah 17:7 The Message
I trust in your faithful love, Lord. I will be happy when you save me.
Psalm 13:5 ERV
[God’s love]… always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
1 Corinthians 13:7 NIV
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him
Romans 15:13 NIV
Amen.
For more information and the marvelous story of the field of flowers at Texas-Tulips, visit www.texas-tulips.com. You can cut your own and bring them home!!
Let Faith Flourish! is a Lenten series on “flowers of the field”— crown anemones, chamomile, tulips, lilies, narcissus, and poppies. In these flower-filled weeks ahead, as our landscapes wake up in spring’s gentle warming and fill with bloom and blossom, may worry be displaced with the Word of the Lord. May the true flourish of the Lenten season be in our faith!
Photo Credits:
© 2018 Shelley S. Cramm
