Wildflower Inspiration – A Set of Banners

Ever been caught up in a project and time just melts away? Without being conscious of a ticking clock, the mind is free to drift to various ideas that have been tucked away in a corner until there is space for them to stretch their legs. Once given space the thoughts run here and there and sometimes pick up a trail right to the heart.

Such is the case in a project this summer, a project of making a set of banners for our church.

While sitting in the sanctuary over the past couple of years (listening intently to the sermons of course) I’ve been imagining making banners that would be painted pictures of, you guessed it, wildflowers. A colorful fabric border would compliment the church’s beautiful stained glass windows and compliment the concept of growing flowers.

Finally, the timing was right. The church desired some new banners and my school teaching was over for the year. I googled “flower verses in the Bible” to find the verse that would be the focus for the banners, verses that would encourage each person in the pews to ponder an important thought from God’s heart for the summer months with the banners overhead.

I Peter 1:24-25 was the one I had in mind and it set the focus on God’s Word: “All people are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of the Lord endures forever.” I made a sketch with the second half of the verse surrounded by wildflowers and grasses then set out to gather materials.

OK, so I seem to collect acrylic craft paint- no need to buy any more of those, but I picked up the fabrics, gold ribbon trim, curtain rods and gold rope to hang them and headed down to my wonderful old wooden table in the basement to work.

While drawing out the lettering of the verse my thoughts meandered around the words being written and then painted on the cloth…grass withers, flowers fall, word of God endures forever. Why are grass and flowers compared to God’s word? What else did 1 Peter say? I grabbed a Bible and opened it up on the table alongside the banners.

All people are like grass. All their glory is like the flowers. The grass withers. The flowers fall.

I kept painting and my heart kept pondering Gods words. All people are like grass, the grass withers. All people wither and die. All people’s glory is like the flowers, flowers fall. Another version said all people’s faithfulness like flowers will fall.

Each time I came back to the project I pondered being like grass and flowers that wither and fall. It was so very humbling. I kept painting grass and flowers around the words, feeling very small and very mortal.

God began to whisper a message into this place of feeling small.

“You’re right, your faithfulness is not enough to endure forever, but Mine is. My word endures forever, I endure forever and I made a way for you to live forever with Me. Your eternal life is not based on your faithfulness but is based on My faithfulness to you. Being humble and small let’s you recognize your need for Me. That is My message through the withering grass and the falling flowers that you are painting.”

After doing a bit more sketching, I added the rest of the verse to the banners, tucked in the grass and flowers. All people are like grass. All their glory is like the flowers.

Thank You, Lord, for Your faithfulness to us, your humble wildflowers of the field.

PS- these similar words are found in Isaiah 40. This study continued on to the Isaiah passage and sprung into the coloring book project offered here: Isaiah 40 Coloring Book Devotional.