My last post consisted of a picture. There were no stories, life lessons, or great life realizations included with the picture, but simply a picture that I drew, and a verse that inspired me to draw said picture.
“For He gives His sunlight to both the evil and the good, and He sends rain on the just and the unjust alike.”
And then I’ve gotten a few questions on what exactly the picture symbolizes. So I’ll describe the logic behind it all.
“For He gives His sunlight to both the evil and the good, and He sends rain on the just and the unjust alike.” – Matthew 5:45
I think the main theme of the picture is pretty obvious at what I was getting at, and how I was inspired by this verse. The earth is going through a storm, while also enjoying the sunshine provided by God. The earth is filled with good and evil people, but everybody’s been rained on once or twice. I think people understood that part.
The part that confused was the rose. Why a rose? What does that symbolize? Where is that in Matthew 5:45?
The answer is, it’s not in Matthew 5:45, and, to be completely honest, I’m not sure I knew what it symbolized until someone asked me that very question.
The rose symbolizes us. Let me tell you why.
First, roses need rain. Without rain, a rose can’t grow into the symbol of love it has become famous for. We also need rain, because without rain we will have never been strengthened or tested by God. Even Jesus experienced rain for 40 straight days, being tempted by the devil. Rain is there to simply make us stronger.
Second is the meaning attached to a rose. Roses are commonly sought out for their beauty, their fragrance, and the meaning put behind them. A rose is a good thing to be given. But there’s also something annoying about a rose: it has thorns. Despite these thorns, a rose is still generally seen as a good thing. It’s seen as a compliment, a flattery even after it stabs you in the finger.
That’s a lot like how God sees us.
The only difference is we’re the opposite. We are people who are mostly flawed, yet slightly beautiful. We usually are sinning more than we’re giving, even if we don’t realize it. Yet God doesn’t see us this way. God sees us as beautiful people. He knows we have flaws, yet is willing to completely overlook them if we simply recognize ourselves as a ‘gift’ to Him.
We are as the rose – seen as good, despite our flaws. We see a rose as a good gift to someone we love. God sees us as a good gift to someone we love – Him.
We will also occasionally get wet, but we’d never grow into who He wants us to be without a little bit of rain.
Embrace the rain and thank God for seeing us as roses without thorns.
. . . musings from a pitiful masterpiece 