An unknown plant? Not any more!

We been in this house for some time now and so I think I know the names of most of the plants in the garden and where they came from. Some we bought ourselves, some are gifts, some “memory plants or seeds” came from a friend or relative’s garden but each is known. Imagine my surprise then when I spotted this plant in the garden earlier in the week. What is it and where has it come from?  I have no idea although it is possible that a bird may have dropped a seed in passing; but still what is it?

Isn’t it good then to realise that God has no problems in this respect. He knows each and every one of us, not just by name but intimately.  In fact He knows us better than we know ourselves. He knows our needs, our desires, our hopes and our fears and more importantly He cares for us.

But not only does He know our names but He calls each of us to carry His message to the world around us. Just as the flowers in the garden demonstrate the glory of His Creation so are we called to show Christ to our fellow man. Indeed, it is through our lives and actions that they will come to know Him and embrace Him as their Lord and Saviour. And if the going gets rough then we can call on Him for help. We do not need to make an appointment to see Him, nor leave a message on His voicemail or even sent Him an email. He is there waiting for us whenever and wherever we need Him. How good, how reassuring is that? We can take comfort and strength from these two portions of Scripture:

 “Do not be anxious about anything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving; present your request to God.” Philippians 4:6
And secondly:
11 “When you are brought before synagogues, rulers and authorities, do not worry about how you will defend yourselves or what you will say, 12 for the Holy Spirit will teach you at that time what you should say.” Luke 12:11-12

By the way, after scouring the reference books (yes, we were brought up in an age before internet search engines) my wife discovered that it is an Allium siculum or Sicilian honey garlic plant! Apparently it is a member of the onion family. You learn something new every day. We’ve still no idea how it got here.

---