When it’s Not Time to Bloom

I was walking past my entry table for probably the hundredth time today when I noticed that all of the peonies in the bunch I had purchased at the store where opening at different rates.

Some were all big and fluffy, in full bloom. While others were only half-way open.

Then there was this one, still closed tightly.

I studied it for awhile, wondering why it wasn’t opening at the same rate as the others.

It reminded me of all of the quotes I’ve ever read about blooming and blossoming and how every one of them places emphasis on being open. There’s the suggestion that only when we are fully blooming will we have fully arrived.

And I realized that I don’t think I have ever read a quote about the beauty of the closed bud.

I think that’s such a shame.

Have you ever noticed on social media how often we are shown a dramatic ‘Before’ and ‘After’? The emphasis is always on how vastly someone improved on a room in their home or their haircut or their makeup technique. And yet, with so much focus on the ‘after’ perhaps we are missing out on the opportunity to see any of the beauty that was there in the ‘before’.

You see, I think that there is sweetness in that blossom that hasn’t opened yet, even when all of the others around it have. If you look closely you can see so many details and nuances. You can see colors in that bud that you no longer see once it’s fully opened.

That bloom is going at its own pace. It’s in no hurry to catch up to the others.

But we don’t do that, do we? We find ourselves looking around at all of those people who seem to be in full bloom in their lives, whose dreams are coming true or who seem to have it all together.

And we wonder why we aren’t blooming as quickly as they are.

But that little peony bloom in the pitcher on my entry table wasn’t wondering that. It wasn’t droopy or hanging its head in shame. It was strong and upright and holding its own among the other flowers.

Ecclesiastes 3:11 tells us that “He has made everything beautiful in its time.”

I love that in this verse there is emphasis on something being made beautiful in ‘its’ time. Not sooner, not later, just when it is the exact right time for whatever ‘it’ is to be made beautiful. In our humanness, we want to hurry this process along. The grandeur of those big, fluffy blooms can seem to outshine the ones that are still closed up.

But friends, we need to remember that there is so much beauty in the seasons of waiting.  Don’t wish this time away. Savor it, ponder it, rest in it. There is so much to be learned from the details and the nuances.

Can you trust that you will be fully open at the exact right moment for YOU?

It’s hard, I know. Believe me, I know.

But at this point in my life, I have experienced what happens when I wait to be made beautiful in MY time. Or, more accurately, being made beautiful in the Lord’s time.

And, I promise you that it’s worth the wait!

Are you struggling with this at all right now in your life? Would you consider sharing some of your journey with me and the rest of the At the Picket Fence community?

It’s always nice to know that we aren’t alone in our journey.

I hope you know how blessed I feel that you decided to meet me at the Fence today,