Pike’s Fish Market in Seattle, Washington is famous for hilarity and excellent customer service. The skilled and humorous sales men provide a great “performance” selling their fish. They have become the subject of Customer Service training videos across America.
I was as entertained as anyone, standing among the shoppers watching the fish show. My friend and I laughed and enjoyed the show for about five minutes. That was as long as it took for the smell of fish to overcome our enjoyment of the show and we moved away in search of a more pleasant smelling environment.
We pressed through the crowded market passing jewelry, antiques, novelty kitchen wares and other enticing displays until we turned a corner and a sudden burst of fragrance filled the air. We eagerly pursued the enticing aroma until at last, turning another corner, we ran into row upon row of the most stunning display of flowers I’d ever seen in a market. Lilies, geraniums, roses, daffodils, tropical flowers of every description, plants from near and far, splashes of vivid gold, reds, greens, yellows, white, pinks,and blues transformed the market into a tropical paradise.
But it was the aroma, the sweet smelling fragrance which captivated us.As we left, my friend bought me a bouquet of flowers to enjoy in my hotel room. By the end of our stay the flowers in my room were still fresh and fragrant. Taking the morning’s newspaper I gently rolled the flowers inside moistening the paper with water covering the stocks in a plastic bag ready for my journey home.
Arriving at Seattle airport I braced myself for the two flights to Orlando, and the nerve racking check-in and security screenings at each airport. My journey began well when the counter staff immediately commented on my beautiful flowers and their fragrance at check in!
Going through security the officer welcomed me with a wide smile commenting on my beautiful flowers, as did the baggage checking officer who was more than helpful in handling my flowers as he buried his face in them to smell their fragrance!
In Denver I sat on the floor with hundreds of other passengers waiting for delayed flights. Many were tired and disgruntled, but those sitting near me started talking about my flowers. “Where did you get the flowers? They smell so beautiful” led to other conversations, and soon I had quite a community around me to pass the time of the delay.
Our flight was called and I put my flowers in the overhead bin as I took my seat half way down the aircraft. As I settled in I overheard a couple talking as they came down the aisle;“ Where is the girl with the flowers? I hope we are sitting next to the girl with the flowers. They smelled so good!”
As the flight took off I wondered if my fellow passengers would have been so anxious to sit with me if I had been carrying fish? My journey through the airports would have been very different that day if I had chosen to carry fish instead of flowers back to Orlando!
Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 2:14-15; “we are the ‘fragrance of Jesus.'” My day with the flowers made me wonder if I smell like flowers or fish to those around me? Butterflies live among the flowers. They drink their nectar. They pollinate. They spread fragrance. Do I spread His fragrance?
Have you thought what fragrance you bring into a room? Is it a sweet smelling fragrance or a bitter sour aroma? Are people encouraged and attracted to the presence of Jesus in you, or do they turn away when you approach? Every day we have a choice about the fragrance we bring to others.
Flowers have to be crushed to make perfume. It is often our greatest pain that brings forth the sweetest fragrance of Jesus in our lives. However if we allow un-forgiveness, bitterness, anger, offenses and unresolved pain to grown in our hearts we may well end up smelling like dead fish.
Many women live with bad smells emanating from their hearts because of unresolved pain and sorrow. They need the fragrance of Jesus to bring them hope; His sweetness, His joy and His love. That fragrance comes through His people……“Now thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumph in Christ and through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place. For we are the fragrance of Christ to those who are being saved, and among those who are perishing.” 2 Corinthians 2:14-15.
Our butterfly Monica is spreading the fragrance of Jesus in Nepal today, Roth is spreading His fragrance in Cambodia, Martha in India, Christine in UK,and Geneva in Orlando. These are just a few of our butterflies around the world who are bringing the fragrance of Jesus to others in pain and desperation.
Would you pray for our Butterflies spreading the fragrance of Jesus in our broken world? Pray we continue spreading His fragrance through women set free to love…
Yours with deep affection,
In His Love
Liz