Editor’s ntoe: The following is an excerpt from “Watching for the Morning,” released by B&H Publishing. Vaneetha Risner suffers from post-polio syndrome.
Years ago, I helped organize our church’s VBS and oversaw all the crafts. I spent hours finding ideas, cutting construction paper, and gathering all the supplies. I loved hearing parents’ comments on what their children brought home. But I can’t serve that way anymore; now I have to worry about even walking down the children’s hall, afraid I could get knocked down. At times now I feel useless.
I know the Christian life isn’t all about usefulness. I am not indispensable in the kingdom – none of us is. God delights in us, not because of anything we offer or accomplish but simply because we are His beloved children. This life is not about our glory – the impact we make on this world – but about God’s glory. His grace is sufficient for us, and His power is made perfect in our weakness. When we look weak, we are often our strongest.
When I think about the contrast between being energetic and productive versus losing energy and strength, I picture the dying dandelion. In its heyday, the dandelion is bright and rugged. It grows in harsh conditions, often in places where no one sees or knows but God. Some people see it as unstoppable, its bright yellow petals visible from a distance. Its noticeable color attracts and feeds the bees, and its spreading softens hard and compacted soil to enable other plants to thrive.
But as it is dying, stripped of its strength, the dandelion is often hard to see. It has given everything, and there seems to be nothing left; the vibrant color that once defined it is gone. In this stage it is preparing to reproduce, doing its most glorious work. This is what captivates me about the dandelion – its delicate beauty and far-reaching influence at the end of its life. That is when it brings life to others.
We often feel most useful to God when we are sunny, strong and resilient. People notice us. But when our health changes and we feel delicate and dependent, we wonder what good our lives are. And society reinforces that doubt by ignoring the elderly, shunning the disabled, aborting the unwanted. It’s almost as if we must prove our usefulness for society to value us. When we aren’t accomplishing anything visible to others, we may feel like a burden, wishing we could serve rather than be served.
But when does the dandelion do its most important work? When it’s dying. When the fragile seeds are blown away by the wind. When it has surrendered itself and is sowing seeds of new life. And the stronger the wind blows, the farther the seeds will go – to places that one lone flower could never have gone itself.
“Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.” John 12:24 (ESV)
Vaneetha Risner is the author of “Watching for Morning” from B&H Publishing and “Desperate for Hope,” a seven-week study on suffering from Lifeway Christian Resources. Risner and her husband Joel live in Raleigh, N.C., where she writes at vaneetha.com, encouraging readers to turn to Christ in their pain.
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