“Forever Bloom” – by Meghan Williams, Dyed4you Art
1 John 4:13 (VOICE) How can we be sure that He truly lives in us and that we truly live in Him? By one fact: He has given us His Spirit.
In a vision, I saw the Father shaking a sunflower over His child. Water droplets fell from the sunflower and upon the childlike rain. I sensed that the essence of the sunflower was transferred into the water. Therefore, it was clear that the essence of the sunflower would saturate the child that the Father was sprinkling.
Symbolically, sunflowers allude to “son-flowers,” those who are growing up into fullness in the Spirit of Christ. In my vision, the sunflower in the Father’s hand was symbolic of Christ, His firstborn son. Christ is God’s chosen mediator of the new covenant. Those who are in Christ have been sprinkled with his blood, the blood of the covenant (Exodus 24:8, Hebrews 12:22-24). The blood of Christ brings absolutely atonement—or, one could say, it brings at-one-ment; it unites us forever with God. Yet the covenant also gives us access to the outpouring of Christ’s Spirit (which is often symbolized as rain or oil). The Holy Spirit is our guarantee of unity with the Creator, the very force that connects us to God.
The vision of the sunflower immediately reminded me of a pun that God often speaks over me, “I’m going to rain on your head.” It is a line from a movie, but when He says it, it is layered with spiritual life, significance, and a fiery love. It doubles in meaning as, “I’m going to reign on your head.” When God speaks this phrase over me, He is calling to mind the irrevocable words of His covenant and reminding me of my eternal bond to Him.
Rain held great importance during biblical times. As an agriculture society, they were very aware that their lives depended upon God sending the rain in its due season—the former and latter rains that would water the land. Rain was a sign of the blessings of the covenant, a provision in the marriage agreement between God and Israel. As Israel remained faithful to the covenant, God’s covenant blessings would flow to sustain them.
With the coming of Christ, the outpouring of the Spirit was connected to the “former and latter rains.” I can say without a doubt how essential the rain—or reign of the Holy Spirit has been in my life. The Holy Spirit waters my soul with words of truth from the lips of my savior. Through the Spirit, Christ reminds me that I am His and He is mine. Regardless of whether I feel connected to Him or not at any given moment, He isn’t going anywhere. I’m never lost, even if I may momentarily feel that way in the chaos of life. God’s covenant promises to me are rock solid.
Even more, because I follow Christ and obey His voice, the blessings of the covenant are ever flowing to sustain me. When I dig deep into the Spirit, do not lack anything that I need. I am completely saturated in the love, character, and dynamis power of Christ. He is infused into my DNA! As Christ renews my mind, my ways and my thoughts are transformed until they reflect His. As Paul states in 1 Corinthians 2:16, I have the very mind of Christ.
So when God is reminding me that He is raining or reign upon me, truly it means that, as I embrace the rule of His Spirit in my life, He truly is reigning through me. Like a sunflower that soaks up the sun and the rain, God’s Word and God’s way holds everything I need to navigate this world. My greatest desire is to yield to the Spirit in my everyday life and allow Him to work His will through me—on earth as it is in heaven.
Deuteronomy 11:13-14 (NKJV) ‘And it shall be that if you earnestly obey My commandments which I command you today, to love the LORD your God and serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul, then I will give you the rain for your land in its season, the early rain and the latter rain, that you may gather in your grain, your new wine, and your oil.
Psalm 133:1-3 (NIV) How good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity! It is like precious oil poured on the head, running down on the beard, running down on Aaron’s beard, down on the collar of his robe. It is as if the dew of Hermon were falling on Mount Zion. For there the Lord bestows his blessing, even life forevermore.
