Outdoor Object Lesson 97: Worry Like A Flower

Key Text

"Why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow. They don’t toil, neither do they spin, yet I tell you that even Solomon in all his glory was not dressed like one of these." Matthew 6:28-29 (WEB)

Lesson

What is your favorite color of flower? You can find nearly every color of the rainbow. Some colors are more rare like green or even black. Others are abundant like yellow. What is your favorite type of flower? There are over 400,000 flowering plants in the world, so your bound to find one to like.1 Some are big and intricate. Others are small and plain. Some have wonderful scents, others have a horrid stench and some have almost no scent at all. 

There are flowers that grow in all types of places. Some grow in extreme areas where few plants or animals live. The Velvet mesquite (Prosopis velutina) grows in the desert in the southwestern United States. It can with stand the hot desert temperatures that can reach 104 degrees F (40 degrees C) and in the winter temps can drop below freezing! To find water in the parched ground it sends its roots up to 164 feet (50 meters) deep!2

Other flowering plants can grow in extreme cold and at very high elevations. One flower, Christolea himalayensis, grows on high mountains in the Himalayas. It has been recorded growing over 20,000 feet (6300 m) and freezes and thaws again each day.3 There are even flowers that grow underwater. A species of seagrass, Thalassia testudinum, has flowers that grow completely underwater. It even depends on small water animals to help pollinate the flowers.4 

God made so many different beautiful flowers. Did you know that Jesus talked about flowers? In the Key Text Jesus was speaking to his listeners about worrying too much. He reminded them to depend on God who has the power to provide all our needs. Jesus reminded his listeners how beautiful God makes flowers. Yet they don't worry about getting clothes, making money, or finding food. They depend fully on God for everything they need. Humans live much longer than flowers do as you know if you have ever picked any flowers. Yet, we often worry about whether we will have everything we need. Jesus reminded his listeners in the same sermon, that God already knows our needs even before we ask him. We don't need to worry. If we trust God, and ask him for what we need, he will provide. 

Questions

Do you or your family like to keep flowers in your house or lawn?

Does the Key Text mean that God will give us anything we ask for?

What if we do not get what we ask for in prayer, does that mean God has broken his promise?

How can we learn to trust that God will give us what he knows is best?

Sources

1. ProFlowers, “151 Types of Flowers Common in the U.S.,” ProFlowers.com (March, 19, 2019), accessed May 31, 2019 from https://www.proflowers.com/blog/types-of-flowers.
2. Jill Richardson, "Desert plants: The ultimate survivors," Science News for Students online, (January 30, 2015) accessed March 31, 2019 from

https://www.sciencenewsforstudents.org/article/desert-plants-ultimate-survivors.
3. lucy, "Surviving in mountains: the highest places in the world where plants flower," Wild World online, (June 10, 2011) accessed March 31, 2019 from http://iberianature.com/wildworld/surviving-in-mountains-the-highest-places-in-the-world-where-plants-flower/.
4. Matt, "Underwater Pollinators," In Defense of Plants online, (October 31, 2016) accessed March 31, 2019 from http://www.indefenseofplants.com/blog/2016/10/31/underwater-pollinators.

Written by David F. Garner
Photo credit: DeltaWorks via www.pixabay.com 

Outdoor Object Lesson 85: Better Than Metal Bones

Key Text

You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you. Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord, the Lord himself, is the Rock eternal.

Lesson

Have you ever wished that you were made of metal? That your bones were as strong as steel and could never be broken, or perhaps that you had your own metal armor? This is a dream shared by many boys but probably few girls. It is an interesting thought and one contemplated by biologists. Not long ago biologists discovered one creature that does have a metal skeleton. It is called the scaly-foot gastropod (Crysomallon squamiferum). This odd creature is a snail-like animal that lives deep in the ocean near hydrothermal vents where it is warm. They live at depths of 1.5-1.7 miles (2.4-2.8 km). Scaly-foot gastropods grow their own shell which they use as a defense from predators.

Their shell is made of a trilayered composite structure that resembles modern armor. It is made of a highly calcified inner layer, an organic middle layer, and coated with an iron-sulfide outer layer. This deep-sea snail has iron armor! It is currently the only known animal to achieve this. This metal armored shell also acts as an exoskeleton for the snail. It serves to protect it from the harsh corrosive water it lives in as well as to stop predators from eating it. This unique creature is providing researchers with new insights that may lead to better designs for materials to use in armor and all sorts of applications.1

Researchers have studied metal and other materials as possible substitutes for bone in humans. Metals and other composite materials are used to replace bones in some surgeries such as hip replacements. These materials are in many ways stronger and more resilient than bone. One critical barrier remains to replacing our bones with other materials—self healing. Our bodies are designed to heal injuries using the materials and molecules we had at birth. Our bodies are simply not designed to heal metal bones.

Humans may devise a way to replace their bones with stronger materials one day. It may seem better to never have to worry about having a broken bone. But metal bones or armor will not stop all pain or harm. It cannot prevent death. God has given us something better than metal armor. He has provided a shield for us. As it says in the key text, those who trust in God will have him as their protector, as their rock. When we submit to God and trust him to provide our protection then we can have peace. God has outlined his armor for us in Ephesians 6:10-18: righteousness, faith, truth, and salvation. With these tools we have the protection of the Almighty King, much better than any metal. The scaly-foot gastropod can go about its business, without worry of danger, confident in the armor God has provided for it. How much more can we live free from worry, confident in the protection God provides us? Are we not more valuable than a sea snail? Jesus died to redeem us, our salvation is assured. We may suffer broken bones here on this earth, but that is nothing compared to the hope we have in Jesus!

Questions

If you have had a broken bone, how did it happen?

Would you choose between metal bones or metal armor? Why?

What do we do when we trust God’s protection but still worry?

Sources

1. Yao, Haimin, Ming Dao, Timothy Imholt, Jamie Huang, Kevin Wheeler, Alejandro Bonilla, Subra Suresh, and Christine Ortiz. “Protection Mechanisms of the Iron-Plated Armor of a Deep-Sea Hydrothermal Vent Gastropod.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 107, no. 3 (January 19, 2010): 987 LP-992. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0912988107.



Written by David F. Garner

Photo credit:  Kentaro Nakamura, Hiromi Watanabe, Junichi Miyazaki, Ken Takai, Shinsuke Kawagucci, Takuro Noguchi, Suguru Nemoto, Tomo-o Watsuji, Takuya Matsuzaki, Takazo Shibuya, Kei Okamura, Masashi Mochizuki, Yuji Orihashi, Tamaki Ura, Akira Asada, Daniel Marie, Meera Koonjul, Manvendra Singh, Girish Beedessee, Mitrasen Bhikajee, Kensaku Tamaki via commons.wikimedia.org. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 Generic license.