Content To Be Hidden?

Linking up at Five Minute Friday, where we write for 5 minutes on a given prompt.   Today's prompt is 'hidden'. 

The word 'hidden' took me back, instantly, to a poem I wrote a few years ago for a struggling friend. 
Since that time, she very graciously sent it back to me when I was struggling with similar issues. 

So, I'll share it with you and perhaps it will help you too. 


THE ROSE

I saw in a garden, in a quiet, little place
A rose red as scarlet, full of beauty and grace
Why is it there?   For whom does it grow?
Does anyone see it?  Will anyone ever know?

Why has the gardener planted it there?
Does anyone notice, will anyone care?
Is it enough for the gardener to know?
To enjoy its beauty, and see that it grows?

It seemed such a waste, for its beauty not to be seen
By the rest of the world, like some hidden-away queen
There in a garden, a beautiful gem,
Growing lovely and strong, but only for Him.

But then I saw Him, and saw the joy on His face,
As His rose grew there, in that secret place.
I saw His delight and the love in His eyes,
as He pruned and adored His beloved prize.

This prize was a gift, redeemed by His Son,
Who'd hung on that cross, till the victory was won.
To His Father, He gave His life just for this
To buy back this gem, and present it to Him.

Had it been bruised, was it limp and forlorn?
How much had He pruned it, to bring it back to its form?
How much love had He spent to bring it around,
To the way that it looked, to be the gem that I'd found?

There in the garden, in that quiet, secret place,
Under His gaze, receiving His grace,
For whom, Christ in His passion, paid the ultimate price
It got me to wondering, it made me think twice.

Am I content to be, is it enough for me
To be a rose that only You will see?
There's so much I could do for You, in some other place
Is it enough for me to be here, under Your gaze?

Will I let You prune me, to bring me around
Allow You to form me, like the gem that I found?
If nobody ever sees, and nobody ever knows,
am I content, just to be, Your hidden, scarlet rose?

Photo courtesy of our dear friend, Suzy, who loves roses and other flowers, and for whom roses have been a symbol of God's faithfulness in her life.