One of my favorite examples of God’s timing is the Winter Jasmine flower. Blooming sunny, yellow buds in the cold, snowy weather, these beautiful creations seem out of place and out of season by our (limited) societal standards. Yet, they bloom in the season and the timing that is right for them, even if not in alignment with their flower cousins.

Photo from this website: https://lawnlove.com/blog/winter-flowers-that-bloom-in-the-cold/

We often consider it a sign or blessing from God when we experience oxymorons like the Winter Jasmines - until we are the ones who seem to be blooming in the off-season.

Our Westernized culture does an incredible, consistent job telling us how and when we should be…thin(ner), partnered, graduated, employed, happy, rich, and on and on and on. These glaring reminders of our inadequacy tend to show up “just in time” for the holidays, helping us prepare our hearts to pivot from joy to shame in a matter of days.

How quickly we seem to forget the cuddling joy of baby Jesus after December 25!

It seems once we turn the calendar page, we instantly lament all the things we celebrated just days before: patience, pause, and hope for what has not yet arrived. When the clock strikes twelve on January 1, we expect our resting spirits to magically transition to workhorses; we want results instead of things hoped for and yet unseen. On this day, we put away our glass slippers and our Christmas trees so we can rush toward getting a move-on.

Reflecting on this, it is shocking how much harm we cause by applying unrealistic and unfair expectations on ourselves, and others by demonstration. We teach those around us to conditionally love themselves and others, rushing to meet societal demand instead of Jesus. Studies indicate that the societal pressures of “more” squeeze the joy and the wind out of our spiritual sails before January has even packed its suitcase.

Just like the baby Jesus, we need time to grow and develop our inner (child)selves. As we learn, we stumble, tumble, and fall as we age - both chronologically and spiritually. This is a part of the holy process - perfection has never been a part of the equation, and neither has worldly timing. Is it fair to assume that just as Jesus and the Winter Jasmines always show up “in God’s timing”, we do too?

“For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven.” ~ Ecclesiastes 3:1

Is it possible that, perhaps, they are just as beautiful - if not more - because of their timing…and we are too? Perhaps that is why the light of God is so bright…because it stands and shines out in the opposite darkness, not in competition but in beautiful, perfectly-timed contrast. Today, on this January day, I thank God for you - not as the world says you should or could be, but for who you are today: beautiful, God’s, and shining in God’s perfectly-timed season.