HAND DELIVERED BOUQUETS - - -by Max Lucado

Rejections are like speed bumps on the road. They come with the journey.
You cannot keep people from rejecting you. But you can keep rejections from enraging you.

How? By letting his acceptance compensate for their rejection.

Think of it this way. Suppose you dwell in a high-rise apartment. On the window sill of your room is a solitary daisy. This morning you picked the daisy and pinned it on your lapel. Since you have only one plant, this is a big event and a special daisy.

But as soon as you’re out the door, people start picking petals off your daisy. Someone snags your subway seat. Petal picked. You’re blamed for the bad report of a coworker. Three petals. The promotion is given to someone less experience but with USC water polo looks. More petals.

By the end of the day, you’re down to one. Woe be to the soul who dares to draw near it. You’re only one petal-snatching away from a blowup.

What if the scenario was altered slightly? Let’s add one character.
The kind man in the apartment next door runs a flower shop on the corner. Every night on the way home he stops at your place with a fresh, undeserved, yet irresistible bouquet.

These are not leftover flowers. They are top-of-the-line arrangements. You don’t know why he thinks so highly of you, but you aren’t complaining. Because of him, your apartment has a sweet fragrance, and your step has a happy bounce. Let someone mess with your flower, and you’ve got a basketful to replace it!

The difference is huge. And the interpretation is obvious.
God will load your world with flowers. He hand-delivers a bouquet toyour door every day. Open it! Take them! Then, when rejections come,you won’t be left short-petaled.
God can help you get rid of your anger.
Take the flowers. Receive from him so you can love or at least put up with others.