Did you plant the dandelions in your front yard? Dandelions are
no respecter of persons. They adorn the yards of the rich and show
their yellow glory around the hovels of the poor. They delight
to grow in the cemetery or in the garden of the Prince. They flourish
in the woods where no one can observe them, or they show their
smiling faces right near your front steps though they certainly
will be dug up at the first opportunity. How persistent they are.
How quickly they develop. They are up in the morning before you
are. They blossom and go to seed and seed your neighbor's lawn
while you are trying to make up your mind whether to dig them out
yourself or hire someone else to do it. They are the first to bloom
in the Spring and the last to be discouraged in the Fall. Let us
consider the message which the dandelion gives to us. We too should
be out early with the seed of the Word of God and continue until
the shadows fall, scattering the message.
If the grass in your front yard is two inches high the dandelion will grow three inches. If you should neglect to cut the lawn and the grass grows five inches long the dandelion will grow six inches high and smile at the sun. If you should be on a vacation and the grass should grow ten inches long, then that persistent, "not to be whipped" dandelion will grow eleven inches tall and stick up its nose at the passing throng. It simply will not be downed. It rises above "its circumstances." It will not be outdone by its neighbors. It has an ambition to get somewhere and it gets.
One dandelion plant may multiply itself by several hundreds. Quite a few blooms will appear from the one plant and on each bloom there will be many seeds. Each seed is equipped with a sail to carry it on the wind. The Lord knew that no one would plant dandelions and that men would despise them, so He gave them the means of quickly recovering from the devastating knife of man by causing them to multiply quickly and profusely. The seeds ripen very quickly and a puff of wind blows them over the entire neighborhood. So the Lord would have us to be fruit bearing children of His. It is those who "TURN MANY TO RIGHTEOUSNESS," who shall shine as the stars for ever and ever. The Father is glorified if ye bear MUCH fruit.
The dandelion is not easily discouraged. It does not wilt with sorrow because it has to bloom behind the barn. It does not hide its face with shame because it cannot be on the front lawn of the courthouse. It does the bidding of its Maker happily and beautifully, whether it is in an obscure place or in a very prominent garden. Our Lord would have us serve just as well among the poor or among the rich; we should serve as gladly and as efficiently with the few as before the many. We should not care at all for those who observe us but only for the pleasure of Him Who sent us.
Just as the dandelion knows no season, so the servant of God should be, "in season out of season," when the world thinks that the Gospel is out of season, the Christian must know that it is in season. When the world thinks the Scriptures are out of place, the believer must know that the Word of God is always in place. There is no time that is out of season for the precious Word of the living God.
The diligence of the dandelion should be a challenge to our hearts. It is often growing and doing the will of its Maker while God's children are growing and living in disobedience. The dandelion is busy producing the flower for beauty and the seed for service while some of God's saints are busy cultivating ugly habits and destroying the seed that others have sown. The dandelion does what its Master equipped it to do, while sometimes the Christian is busy doing the things he should not do.
Dandelions always tell the same golden story. Who ever heard of a blue dandelion. They bring that golden yellow up out of a black soil. They smile at you in the cold, gray morning and bid you a golden greeting at night, when you come home weary with the work of the day. How like this we should be. Why should not the child of God show the golden glory of the Son of Righteousness in his face constantly? We too should have a happy greeting for those whom we meet along life's road. They should see us and take courage. They should see our example of diligence and persistence and take new heart. Our presence and our actions should instill new hope in the hearts of those who observe us.
As the dandelion seeks out every nook and corner in which to grow and smile and prepare its seed, so should we constantly seek opportunities to bring the sunshine of God's Love and the Seed of His Word into every nook and corner in the community where we live. What a fertile spot every place presents. Sometimes we sow the seed in the jail and sometimes in the orphan's home. It may be in the home of a neighbor where we shall show the flowers and fruits of God's grace, or it may be in the office and the shop. Everywhere the soil is ready, waiting for the seed. We are to be sowing early and late permitting the Holy Spirit to blow our message into every heart where He would have it go.
The beautiful golden yellow of the dandelion comes from the dark damp soil. How can black dirt produce a beautiful blossom? Ah, that is one of God's mysteries. Only God can do it. Only God would do it. It is a miracle which we often see in nature and also in society. Out of the dark ground comes the white hyacinth, the yellow rose, the blue cornflower, the purple violet, the tinted lily and the golden dandelion. Out of the mire and the filth of sin God has brought many a man and many a woman who adorn His doctrines and who exemplify the glories of His great Grace. Men who are a curse in the home have been changed into a benediction. Men whose mouths were foul and filthy with liquor, tobacco, and oaths, have been made into vessels of glory whose mouths were filled with His praises. Men who were a curse to society have been transformed into the greatest of blessings. Yes, our God can bring beautiful things out of horrible things if only we will trust our souls and our lives to Him.
Dandelions care for neither the smiles nor the frowns of men. Their business is to bloom and they do it. Their work is to seed the soil and they accomplish it remarkably well. Their business is to work early and late, and they never take a vacation. The Lord help us to be like the dandelion.
From Strange Short Stories by Dr. Walter Lewis Wilson. Findlay, Ohio: Dunham Publishing Company, 1936.
>> More Strange Short Stories