When the Lily Blooms: Reflections to Restore the Heart and Soul

by Jayne Kane

Overview

Imagine your life coach sitting on one side and Father God sitting on the other side of you. In When the Lily Blooms, author Jayne Kane communicates that God can restore you through His Word and His love for you.

When the Lily Blooms provides a message of hope and encouragement through

• biblical truths found throughout the Bible that still apply today;
• personal examples of God’s love, faithfulness and sovereignty during Jayne’s life;
• opportunities to study how biblical characters experienced and overcame the same challenges you face today;
• practical coaching concepts and questions to help you apply the principles to real life;
• easy- to- memorize Bible verses to rely on in the journey of life;
• personal words of encouragement from God.

As you read and reflect about the themes of simplicity, solitude, silence and surrender you will experience spiritual, emotional and physical restoration; a sense of God’s presence as never before experienced; and the desire to make real and lasting changes so you will be able to bloom the way God intended.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781475910414
Publisher:	iUniverse, Incorporated
Publication date:	05/29/2012
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	264
File size:	458 KB

Read an Excerpt

When the Lily Blooms

Reflections to Restore the Heart and Soul

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By Jayne Kane

iUniverse, Inc.

Copyright © 2012 Jayne E. Kane
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4759-1040-7

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Chapter One

Identity

I am the rose of Sharon, a lily of the valleys. Song of Songs 2:1

There I sat, on the edge of my bed. My life was reeling out of control. I felt as though I was having a nightmare—a bad one. Only this was real. Just a year earlier, I had prayed that God would bring me to a place with him where I could know him more deeply and more intimately. I had been involved in many Bible studies over the years, and had a solid biblical foundation resulting from twelve years of parochial school. But I knew there was more. So I prayed that prayer. The next year my marriage disintegrated and I was bruised from betrayal and abandonment.

My two sons were struggling with what was happening and at the same time were finishing high school. Soon they would be getting ready to spread their wings and go off to college. Even our dog suddenly died. It is the stuff that sad songs are made of. I was too exhausted emotionally, spiritually and physically to pray or pick up my Bible. Nothing could console me and I had no purpose or reason to go on, nor did I know who I was anymore. Up to now my whole life had been wrapped up in my family and the roles that had gone along with it. Little by little, every one of them was gone, even the dog. Life had gotten chaotic and complicated.

As I got up from my bed that morning and made my way through the house, my eye caught a glimpse of the quilt hanging on the wall in the hallway. My mother had been a quilter and part of how she left a legacy was by making quilts. These quilts weren't hodge podge works, but designed specifically for the recipient and on the back side of each one she had stitched a message. The quilt she made for me is called the rose of Sharon. The design is intricately stitched with flowers resembling the rose of Sharon and then another layer of lilies of the valley is stitched around that. There is a large white circle surrounding the flowers, representing God's eternal, pure and perfect love. As I stood looking at this quilt, I longed for my mother who had died many years earlier. How I needed her right now! But I had her legacy to hold onto.

More importantly, God was showing his great love for me. He was sending me a message through that quilt. My first lesson about simplicity was to find out who I was. Through the help of a prayer ministry I began to be set free and for the first time in my life discovered my identity was not wrapped up in being Mrs. Kane, or Tim and Tony's mom, or somebody's physical therapist or any of the other hats I wore. It came down to the fact that I am the rose of Sharon. God was pursuing me. He was telling me that I am His beloved. No matter what happens on this earth, I am His!

The roles I played during my marriage and the time we were raising a family were temporary. I would have them for a season, but eventually these hats would change. My identity as a child of God and a daughter of the eternal king would never change.

Being the gardener I am, I wanted to know what the rose of Sharon was. It is believed that during the time before Christ, Sharon was a fertile coastal plain located south of Mount Carmel and lined the southeastern tip of the Mediterranean Sea. Some theologians believe the rose was a lily and others believe it was perhaps similar to a lotus or anemone. The anemones I grow in my garden are quite simple, yet beautiful. They have five well defined petals which spread out from a delicate and intricate yellow center, truly one of God's masterpieces. So as God called me to him and I would learn my first lesson about simplicity, it came down to this: I am the rose of Sharon, a lily of the valley. My roles in life would come and go, but my identity as a child of my heavenly father would never change. Little did I know the valley would continue for some time to come, nor did I know how much more God had to teach me about simplicity. But through the quilt on the wall He was showing me who I am. God was simplifying my identity, the first step in getting to know him intimately.

Who do you say you are?

Are you describing yourself by your roles or who you really are?

In the past when you wished you were someone else, what were you really saying?

What is one thing you can do to begin to understand who you really are in God's eyes?

A Call from God

Arise, my love, come away with me. Winter is gone and the rain from tears is done. I am bringing you flowers, the birds are singing with joy and you can hear the turtle doves cooing. The trees are budding and the vines are blooming with fragrance. A new season has come. Spring is here. Arise, my beloved and come away with me. (My paraphrase from Song of Songs 2:10-13)

You have many roles as you go about your everyday affairs. Do not confuse them with who you really are to me. I want you to know that you are my first love and you are all mine, if you will allow it to be. The world tells you that you need to wrap yourself up in roles making life complex and even chaotic. I want you to understand and put it in your heart that you are my lily. You are special to me; all I ask is that you make me the Lord of your life. It will simplify your identity and all the roles you hold will become more manageable when first and foremost you understand who we can be to each other. I will not stop pursuing you until you understand that you are my rose of Sharon. You are more beautiful than any flower that will fade after awhile. Your identity as my rose will be for eternity. I invite you to experience what living within the identity of being that beautiful, yet simple rose has to offer. So open your heart to me. Live a life of simplicity with the assurance you are all mine. Be with me and bloom as the rose of Sharon did.

Significance

Like a lily among the thorns is my darling among the maidens. Song of Songs 2:2

One of the most painful experiences a person can go through is being rejected. As I faced the struggled of a divorce I didn't want, I thought about other times in life when I had been rejected. I remembered the heartache of abandonment and rejection and what it felt like when the kids teased me in grade school, or when they wouldn't want to pick me for the team because I was too small. I felt unworthy, puny and insignificant. As my marriage disintegrated, the tapes from my past played in my head. I would go to sleep feeling unworthy and unlovable. In the morning the tape would start running again. It would go something like this: "I am not good enough. I am not worthy or lovable. No one will ever love me again." I convinced myself I would never be loved or accepted by anyone again and even the people who were still in my life would eventually dump me too. Feeling insignificant is the one struggle I battled all my life. If understood I was God's daughter then what was this thing of feeling insignificant? I was basing my emotions on the behavior of other people, not on the truth God was telling me through godly people and His word. But as I navigated through this valley of darkness, God ministered to me through the work of the Holy Spirit. He would say to me:

"You are the salt and light of the earth" Matt5:13, 14.

"You are my coworker" 2Cor. 6:1.

"I have chosen you, Jayne, to bear fruit" John 15:16.

My personal favorite and where significance began to come to life for me was when God told me I am a lily among thorns. I am significant even when there are thorns of rejection, abuse, abandonment, betrayal, hurts that cut to the soul and tears that flow, sometimes for no reason. God was calling me his darling and saw me so significant (and beautiful) that I would stand out in his eyes!

I have some type of lily growing in nearly every one of my flower beds. Lilies are significant throughout the Bible and even thousands of years later are still one of the most beloved and recognized flowers of the garden. What makes lilies significant compared to roses are that they don't have thorns. Lilies are beautiful and have been blessed to not have thorns of rejection, abandonment, abuse or pain clinging to them. They wear the adornment of beauty and simplicity.

So little by little, through God's compassion and tender mercy, He would continue to show me I am His lily. I am His darling among the maidens. I count when it comes to God! I am so significant that God would compare me to the lilies He created; perfect, gorgeous colors, and unlike the roses, without thorns. Little by little, I would shed the negative image that had overtaken my mind that I don't matter. God would show up and bring healing and restoration to my life. He would prove to me that I am significant and worthy of His love for me. He would show me time and time again, I do count. He would demonstrate to me that I am His beautiful lily and one day again, I would bloom!

What thorns continue to hurt you and keep you from seeing your significance to God?

If you could be a flower or a workmanship of God (which you are, by the way) in nature, what would you be?

Everyone longs for significance. What in your life, realistically, makes you significant, and not just feel significant?

Even if you never did a thing of significance by earthly standards, what would make you significant in God's eyes?

My Pursuit

My lily, you are significant in my sight. You stand higher than the thorny plants of nettle or even the earthly roses of beauty. Rise higher than the thorns of abandonment, rejection, abuse and hopelessness. You are my mine and I have given you the most recognized and distinguished characteristics of all the flowers. I know how the thorns hurt you, the thorns that pierce and make your heart bleed. I wore a crown of thorns on my head at one time for you (Matthew 27:29). I too, faced rejection, abandonment and even death. I know how much those thorns hurt and make the heart bleed. The crown I wore was to remove the thorns of hurt you experience on this earth. But one day the earthly thorns will be replaced with a crown of beauty in heaven. So when your heart and flesh cry out for significance (Psalm 84:2) remember how I allowed thorns to be pierced into my flesh and to then be raised with the lilies in the most significant event of all time. You are worth it and you are significant to me. So for this time on earth I want you to stand tall and beautiful. Unlike the rose who has many thorns, you do not have thorns. You are as beautiful and as simple and as significant as the lily. Believe me when I tell you that you are significant. When the thorns of life make you feel insignificant, they are temporary. A crown waits for you in eternity; a crown of beauty making you significant forever!

Purpose

Consider how the lilies grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. Luke 12:27

This is one of my favorite Bible passages; describing a vision of nature as God created it. This passage is from Jesus' famous Sermon on the Mount as he was teaching not only his disciples, but was also speaking to a multitude of people. When you read the verses before and after this verse, you will see that Jesus was laying out the blueprint for godly living. I love the heading in my NIV Bible at the beginning of chapter 12: Warnings and Encouragement. This is a wonderful balance of advice. As I listen to and encourage people in my coaching, there are three parts of our being people tend to struggle with. Those aspects are identity, significance and purpose. Take this time and reflect on what purpose is. Without a clear knowledge of purpose, a person tends to struggle with the reason for being or "What on earth am I here for?"

As Jesus was teaching on the hillside, I can just imagine the people sitting in the grass, lilies naturally rising up and growing with other vegetation in the landscape. Jesus used the lilies as an example to make his point. They were there for a purpose. They were growing to bring splendor and beauty to creation, even more beautiful than how Solomon, the richest man that had lived up to this time, had dressed. Then Jesus made a point about how these lilies lived. They did not labor or spin.

I love growing lilies in my garden. They are easy to grow; bringing beauty to the garden the first year they are planted. They are able to withstand the wind and drought the more fragile flowers can't tolerate. Lilies stand tall and carefree and best of all, they come in every color imaginable. They truly are the jewels of the garden. When I walk through the garden and take a moment to really look at them I am amazed at how complex and delicate these lilies are close up. Yet they are strong, simple and beautiful to the people who are driving or walking by.

Knowing our purpose in life, just as the lily knows its purpose, brings simplicity and focus to why we are here for this time on earth. Lilies grow for the purpose of bringing beauty to creation. They not only live out their purpose well, but they glorify and magnify God as they bloom. They live out his vision for creation as He designed it. Jesus told the people the lilies are even more beautiful than King Solomon. Solomon was the son of King David and was world renowned for his wisdom and insight. One of his purposes as king was to build a temple for worship in Jerusalem. At the height of his reign Solomon was wealthy, influential and still a man of integrity (1 Kings 4-9). As Jesus was comparing Solomon to the lilies he was saying their purpose was more significant and important than King Solomon was in all his glory as a king!

After my boys left for college, my husband was gone and I was burned out on work and career, I seriously questioned my existence and purpose. I had experienced another similar time in my life thirteen years earlier as I broke a cycle of abuse. Life did not seem worth living and purpose was the furthest thing from my mind. Even after God's amazing, divine intervention in my life when I experienced emotional and spiritual healing, I became deceived again as I went through more life losses. I lost a job, my life coaching was not developing and my family continued to experience pain (and I will even call it dysfunction) resulting from unresolved hurt. Life was complicated, chaotic and out of control. Purpose was nonexistent and was replaced by the need for survival. I was being anything but one of God's lilies during this time. Depression and even suicidal thoughts needed to be replaced with truth. And just as God brings the sunshine and the rain to the lily, so He brought His grace and love to me. He provided new insight for me in my work, gave me a new direction and passion for coaching and provided ways for me to express my desire to see His creation restored.

The lilies are a perfect part of God's creation and I am convinced we will see fields of them in heaven; every color imaginable. As I come back to living as the lily does, the simple truth is just as God created the lily for a purpose, God created you and me for a very specific one too. He has a plan and uses our past, our experiences and our gifts and abilities to accomplish His will for our lives. We need to begin by simply waving in the wind. Simplifying life and allowing God to be the Master Gardener is the first step in discovering purpose. Be encouraged by this. Tell yourself this as often as necessary and if you are questioning your purpose, begin the process of discovering what it is God has planned for you during this time on earth.

Do you know why God created you and put you here on earth?

What is your purpose? This is a loaded question. As you think about it, what are you telling yourself?

Are you spinning and laboring?

Or are you standing tall and colorful, waving in the breeze, more beautiful than Solomon in his glory?

If you are spinning and laboring, what is the first step you need to take to discover how God wants you to bloom?

The Master Gardener:

Stop spinning and laboring, My Lily. Look around you. Stop and breathe and see my creation. Stop, if only for a minute and look at the beauty and simplicity life can bring. The lily understands its purpose and glorifies me through its beauty and existence and I desire that you would glorify me too. Walk with me through the lilies of the field and begin to discover that for everything I created there is a reason for my doing it. The lily comes in many colors, more beautiful than the gems that adorned King Solomon's clothes. I want you to understand you are more beautiful than all those jewels and more unique than even the most beautiful lilies that ever bloomed. I have in store for you a beautiful purpose, free of spinning and labor. Rest. Wave in the wind. As the sun and the spring showers make the lilies grow, so will my grace and mercy make you grow. Yes, even the rain of life can bring purpose and a reason for being to you. Search me and discover all the glory you can bring to me by living your purpose; your reason for being here today; for being planted for this season. I have blessed you with gifts, just as I did with Solomon and as I do even today. As my people the the purposes of my heart. Let this be a word of warning and encouragement to you also (Jeremiah 23:20). Stop laboring and spinning. This is a form of rebellion and will deter you from living out your purpose for me. You are my lily; my jewel. When you stop spinning and laboring I can bring meaning and purpose and simplicity to the chaos in your life. Allow me to be your gardener and through the help of my Spirit you will bloom!

(Continues...)

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Excerpted from When the Lily Blooms by Jayne Kane Copyright © 2012 by Jayne E. Kane. Excerpted by permission of iUniverse, Inc.. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

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Table of Contents

Contents

Acknowledgments....................ix
Introduction....................xi
About This Book....................xv
Identity Song of Songs 2:1....................1
Significance Song of Songs 2:2....................5
Purpose Luke 12:27....................8
Hindrances Hebrew 12:1....................12
Staying Close Hebrew 13:5....................16
A Dwelling Place Psalm 84:3....................21
Instructions Mark 6:8....................26
Fruit Galatians 5:22....................30
A Little Psalm 37:16, 28....................34
Being Forgotten Luke 12:-6-7....................40
Reconciliation 2 Corinthians 5:18-20....................44
Being an Heir Galatians 4:7....................49
Chosen 1 Peter 2:9....................54
Final Thoughts on Simplicity....................58
Seeking in Solitude Jeremiah 29:11....................62
Peace in Solitude Proverbs 14:30....................66
Enduring Romans 15:4....................70
Refuge Psalm 91:4....................74
Gaining Perspective John 6:15....................78
Sovereignty Genesis 39:20-21....................83
Not Wasted Isaiah 43:18-19....................87
Encountering God Genesis 32:24....................91
Finding Clarity Luke 5:16....................95
Rebelling Jonah 4:5....................99
Bringing Order Mark 1:35....................103
Provision and Protection Exodus 13:21-22....................108
A Time of Testing Luke 4:1....................112
Final Thoughts on Solitude....................117
Silence in the Heart John 14:27....................121
A Time to be Silent Ecclesiastes 3:1, 7....................126
The Stillness Psalm 46:10....................131
Resting in Quietness Isaiah 30:15....................135
Silence to Bring Balance Psalm 23:2-3....................139
Silence and Responsibility Esther 4:14....................144
The Sanctuary Exodus 25:8....................149
Serving in Silence Psalm 15:1-2....................154
Power in Silence Psalm 63:2....................158
Silencing the Storm Mark 4:39....................162
Bittersweet Silence Acts 9:31....................167
A Divine Appointment Hebrew 6:19....................172
Silent Praise Psalm 68:34-35....................176
Final Thoughts on Silence....................180
The Battle 1 Samuel 17:47....................183
Strongholds 2 Corinthians 10:4....................188
Obedient Surrender Ruth 1:16....................192
Surrendering to Become Equipped Hebrews 13: 20....................196
Abraham-like Surrender Genesis 22:11....................200
Oaks of Righteousness Romans 5:3-4....................204
Casting and Surrendering Psalm 55:22....................208
Surrendering the Vision Habakkuk 2:2-3....................213
Surrendering in Patience Psalm 37:34....................218
Surrendered Servant Hood John 13:5....................223
A Surrendered Family Luke 10:41-42....................227
Shake the Dust Off in Surrender....................231
The Ultimate Act of Surrender....................235
Luke 23:42....................235
John 19:30....................235
Final Thoughts on Surrender....................240
Conclusion....................241