parts of the world, ferns of every variety, palms, and
grasses, and mosses, and all manner of natural beauties meet our eye at
every turn. What is that plant standing in a conspicuous place in the
conservatory? It is a beautiful azalea, covered with hundreds of pure
white blossoms. But there is so much else to see in that conservatory
that we scarcely notice it as we pass by. Nor are we at all surprised to
see it there; it is just the very place in which we should look for such
a plant. Nor are we astonished to find it so flourishing and so full of
bloom, for we know that everything in that conservatory is calculated to
improve its growth, the atmosphere is just what it should be, not too
dry or too damp, it has exactly the right soil, the proper amount of
light, the most carefully regulated heat; it has in fact everything
which it ought to have to make it a flourishing and beautiful plant.
Accordingly we are not surprised to find it full of bloom and beauty.

But suppose, on the other hand, that walking through the slums of
London we see a similar sight. In one of the closest, most filthy courts
we see, in a garret window, a white azalea full of flowers, pure as the
untrodden snow.

Now indeed we are surprised to see it, for it is in the most unlikely
place; there is nothing to favour its growth, the air is foul, the light
is dim, everything is against it, yet there it stands, a marvel of
beauty! And we look at it and say, 'Wonderful!'

Surely we have even now seen the white azalea in the garret. For where
should we expect to find a man of God? Dwelling in the holy temple in
Jerusalem, surrounded by everything to remind him of God breathing in
the very atmosphere of religion, with godly people all around him, with
everything to help him to be holy and pure, no one would be astonished
to find a man of God in such a place as that.

But here is Nehemiah the Rab-shakeh, living in a heathen palace, in the
midst of a wicked court, surrounded by drunkenness, sensuality, and all
that is vile and impure, breathing in the very atmosphere of sin, yet we
find him a plant of the Lord, pure as the azalea, a man of faith, a man
of prayer, a holy man of God. With everything against him, with nothing
to favour his growth in holiness, he is a flourishing plant in the
garden of the Lord. So it ever is. The plants of God's grace often
thrive in very unlikely places. There was a holy Joseph in the court of
Pharaoh, a faithful Obadiah i