This is the confidence which we have before Him,
that, if we ask anything according to His will,
He hears us.

— 1 John 5:14

             God speaks in many ways. (For a broader discussion of those ways, see “God Speaks” post). This post is about how God spoke to me through sunflowers. Yes, sunflowers. Throughout the Bible, and especially, it seems, in the Old Testament, God speaks to his people using signs. There are even instances where God asks someone to choose a sign.

             For example, in Isaiah 7:11, King Ahaz is told, “Ask for a sign from the Lord your God—it can be as deep as Sheol or as high as heaven.” Ahaz refuses to choose a sign, saying that he does not wish to test God. Seemingly a pious answer, but Isaiah’s surprising response is, “Is it not enough for you to try the patience of men? Will you also try the patience of my God? Therefore, the Lord himself will give you a sign…,” and Isaiah gives the birth of Immanuel as the sign. This passage fascinated me when I first read it. It suggests that not only can we ask God for signs, but that maybe God prefers us to choose what the sign will be. This is my interpretation, I could be wrong. I’m simply sharing my lived experiences with you.

             When I found out that I was going to Ukraine to help run a mobile medical clinic there (see “Ukraine – Mobile Medical Clinic” post), I was excited, but also nervous. I wasn’t absolutely sure that this was where God wanted me, although I had taken a leap of faith by buying a plane ticket in advance (see “Leap of Faith – Airline Ticket” post). My family definitely thought I was crazy, asking me why I wanted to go to “a war zone.” When I explained that I’d prayed about it and felt that it was God’s will for me at that time, I was told to “pray again.” My first response was indignation— prayer isn’t a Magic 8-Ball— imagine God saying, “Better not tell you now… ask again later!” But then I let that thought sink in— pray again. Why not pray again? If I really believed that God was speaking to me and telling me to go, then surely He would confirm this for me one more time. I shouldn’t be afraid to pray again. I shouldn’t be afraid, of not hearing an answer.

              Backing up a day or two, one thing that gave me my initial confidence that Ukraine was God’s will for me, was something that I almost didn’t even notice at first. I was about to leave my grandpa’s house when I walked back inside one last time— I felt like maybe I’d forgotten something. I found myself in the kitchen, spaced out and staring at the fridge. Suddenly, I noticed a photograph on the fridge. There was my sweet grandma, grandpa, and dad, in a great photo. Bold and bright on my grandma’s sweatshirt was a yellow sunflower. I caught my breath, then took a picture of the photo. My grandma had rejoined our Heavenly Father in February— I felt like she was sending me confirmation from beyond the grave. (Sunflowers are a major symbol for Ukraine— they’re the national flower, and sunflower oil is a major export).

             Another sign— not a sunflower— was an odd occurrence that I just could not explain any other way than as a message that I and my team would be safe on our Ukraine mission. I visited a friend a few days before I left. He had a book that he wanted me to read— I declined to take it because I knew I wouldn’t have time to read it— but I idly flipped it open, just to see what it was about. The very first words that my eyes rested upon in that book read, “The pilgrims reached Kyiv safely.” That old familiar jolt of otherworldly energy shot through me. I couldn’t believe what I read. The rest of the sentence wasn’t super relevant, but what were the chances of me flipping a several-hundred-page book open to that particular page with those particular words, right after I had prayed for reassurance and for safety?

             Fast forward to the day after “pray again.” I was driving, alone in my car, and I decided to pray out loud. I prayed a long, rambling prayer. Then, I prayed one of the most “dangerous” prayers I’ve ever prayed—

“Thank you, God, for the sunflowers. I really feel like that’s a sign that it’s your will for me to go to Ukraine, and it’s very encouraging. If it’s still your will for me to go to Ukraine, please continue to send me sunflowers…”

             I asked God to continue sending me sunflowers *if* it was still His will for me to go to Ukraine. A dangerous prayer because— I felt in my heart that I was being called to go, but what if I didn’t see any sunflowers after this? (What if I was wrong?) Well, I didn’t have to wait long. This was the most striking and immediate response to a prayer that I’ve ever received, to date. No sooner were the words out of my mouth, then a GIANT sunflower came into view as a Dollar General cargo truck passed me on the highway. It shook me up so badly that I almost had to pull off the road. Same full-body chills, same grateful tears, same bolt of otherworldly energy shot through me. This was the day before I was to board the plane.

             I continued to see sunflowers even up to the point of arriving in Ukraine. For instance, I only watched one movie on the plane, and the opening scene contained flowers that look suspiciously like a variety of sunflower, although I’m not totally sure on those. Leave me a comment if you have a positive flower identification.

             As I consider returning to Ukraine in the months ahead, I recently prayed this dangerous prayer again. And again, God has shocked, amazed, and delighted me with His response. In less than a week since I prayed that prayer, more than six different instances of sunflowers have presented themselves to me. The first, was again a gift from my grandma, as I was about to leave the house. A notebook with sunflowers on the front caught my eye— I opened it, and it was the memory book that my aunt created. I’d seen various parts of it as she was making it, but I hadn’t seen the finished product.

             The second set of sunflowers were on a beautiful mural decorating the side of a random coffee shop stop in Albuquerque, New Mexico. I’d never been there before. The third set was on a couch pillow at the AirBnB I chose to stay at in Utah. I said a little prayer before choosing where to stay, and I couldn’t help but feel that the sunflowers were confirmation that I’d made the right choice. Afterall, I chose this place and had no idea that little pillow was waiting for me. The fourth set was on a knick-knack I saw while at the grocery store in Utah. The fifth and sixth sunflowers were the most surprising of all, as it’s cold here and I haven’t been doing any sight-seeing or leaving the house much. My plan was to hibernate, not to recreate.

             I caught myself thinking, “How is God going to send me sunflowers if I don’t leave the house?”

             Well, apparently this is how. My Uncle sent a series of texts to the family group text, showing a sympathy card that he received in the mail from a mystery-sender. A giant sunflower was on the cover of the card! As if that wasn’t freaky enough, when I Googled the mailing address to try to get more information about who the sender could be, the Captcha that came up asked me to choose the SUNFLOWERS. As many annoying Captcha tools as I’ve seen, usually crosswalks or bridges or traffic lights, I’ve never seen one for sunflowers before. I don’t think secret-AI-spy-phone-tools or Baader–Meinhof phenomenon can explain this anymore. The sunflowers are showing up in too many different places, in too many ways. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised anymore. God is God, after all! Never underestimate the creativity of the Creator!

Give God the right to direct your life,
and as you trust him along the way,
you’ll find He pulled it off perfectly!

— Psalm 37:5 (TPT version)