A Beautiful Violent Rose
Simply Radiant Magazine
“My thorns pushed people away…”
By Sonia Rodriguez
I must embrace the beauty of diversity. God did not create me to look like you, or her, or the celebrity on TV, just like he did not create flowers to be the same… daisies, roses, tulips, orchids… they are all flowers, but all so unique and beautiful in their own way. A rose is no more a flower than a daisy. A rose is gentle, sweet, generous in her never ending aroma, she is beauty in her finest form. A rose also has thorns and if not handled gently and carefully those thorns can turn the gentle rose into a harsh and violent plant. Through the harshness of life, just like the thorns on a rose, I have hurt people along the way. My words, attitude, and actions have hurt people I really care about. My harsh life experiences caused me to prick those around me. My thorns pushed people away… People became so use to my thorns that they failed to see the beautiful gentle rose attached. My thorns did not allow people to see every part of me… the gentle, sweet, and generous, me. It is easy to reject the beauty of a rose when the thorns are so violent and cold. My thorns kept people at a “safe” distance away so the gentle, fragile me could not get hurt any longer, so I thought; and I began to wonder why people didn’t see me for who I really was… I began to lose sight of the gentle and generous me. I told myself I was no longer a rose but a thorny bush who hurts people, but deep down inside I wanted to be the gentle rose I once was. I look around me and it’s dark and I’m surrounded by thorn bushes. I cry out, “How did I get here?” I don’t even recognize myself anymore. When and how did I become so hard, so empty and lonely. I lost my ability to feel… I lost my faith. I whispered to myself, “How do I get out of this thorn bush and find my way to the gentle, delicate rose that I use to be?” I began to smell a sweet fragrance. I look up and I can see it. I can see the rose, the beautiful and gentle rose; and as it sways in the breeze the sun pours down on me and for the first time I see hope and at that moment I know what I need to do. I must follow the Light, I must gaze into the warm gentle Son. I looked up at my Father in Heaven. I felt His Spirit alive inside of me gently lifting my head up, as I was so used to looking down at my dark surroundings that looking up at his glorious light made me shameful. I came across words He spoke in the Bible: Those who look to him are radiant; their faces are never covered with shame Psalm 34:5. With everything inside of me I looked up, I looked to my Father in heaven. I am free, I am a like a rose basking in the beauty of the Son. I do not despise the harsh handling of life, and I am not ashamed of my past. My past is my story and my story will forever be used for God’s glory. My story will set captives free because I have been set free. I will not let my thorns define me, I am defined by the beauty of God that shines through me.
“I am free, I am a like a rose basking in the beauty of the Son.”
If you have been defined by your thorns, and have shut people out, then choose to look up towards our heavenly Father who loves and adores you. He will turn your “thorny” heart of stone into a heart of flesh Ezekiel 36:26. You must make the decision to allow God to transform your life. That decision can be right now. Read this prayer aloud and allow the power of God to transform your life. Find someone to partner with as you begin this journey. Follow Simply Radiant and allow us to encourage you and provide you with the resources you need to walk in the beauty designed by God.
Pray: Heavenly Father, thank you for loving me unconditionally, and even when I made the same mistakes over again you still love me. Thank you that I don’t have to earn your love because I am already loved so much by you. I choose to look to you and no longer focus on the things around. I choose to trust you in everything, so I give you my thorny heart of stone and I choose to receive a heart of flesh. Help me God by the power of your Holy Spirit to walk this journey of life in love and forgiveness. Help me to forgive those (say their names) who treated me harshly (say what they did). In Jesus’ name I pray.