One of the things I love about nature is the way that everything happens at the right time and in its own time. Take for example a flowering plant. It’s lovely to look at a plant when it’s flowering. See the beautiful blooms and smell it’s lovely fragrance. Our garden at the moment is awash with colours and lovely smells and it’s great to sit outside and be a part of it. We’ve got flowers that smell during the day, and then flowers that smell more at night… how fab is that?! Means we get the fragrance all the time, rather than all at once. There seems to me to be a clear order to it so that the fragrances and colours don’t all get lost together. Rather they complement each other in a way that is quite sophisticated and yet simple.

If you take a closer look at the flowering plants, you can also see that not all the buds open at once. As I look out the window at the stunning peach-coloured rose bush we have, there are about 4 open flowers and 6 or 7 buds which are in various stages of opening. This means, of course, that the rosebush flowers for much longer. The positives of this include what I’ve already mentioned… the fragrance and beauty continues for a much longer period. There’s also the benefit to the birds and insects that feed off the nectar – which means that they get fed and, as they fly from flower to flower, they pollinate the plants to ensure that life goes on.

There is a reason to this botany lesson I assure you, so please bear with me!

God created plants and flowers in the way that they are for many reasons, including those I’ve mentioned already. God created us in the same way. We each of us are flowers on the plant. We are a part of the whole plant, even though we may appear separate. We each of us open and bloom at the time that is right. Everything is in divine order. If we all flowered at once, at the same time, there would be less contrast and no one new for us to interact with.

Let’s also look at it from another angle. There was an experiment done some years ago where two sets of plants were observed. One set were given lots of care and attention. They were talked to with loving encouragement. The other set of plants were shouted at and talked to negatively. The plants that were talked to positively thrived and grew into healthy plants. Whereas the other set not all survived and those that did were really not healthy at all.

Do you see, the more we encourage others positively the more they are likely to grow and develop into the best that they can be. That’s not to say you don’t chivvy them along with love and cajoling!

So the thing to remember is this, we all “flower” at the time that is right for us. We all need loving encouragement to help us develop and grow. We are all beautiful in different ways which means we add to the Universe in different ways.

Remember this as you go through life. Lovingly encourage others and help them to grow, and don’t be hard on yourself if your “flower” hasn’t opened but others around you have. Gently encourage yourself and you too will open to show your beauty and provide support to those who come to you. Trust that all is in divine timing, but do keep encouraging yourself to keep the growth going ☺