If you’re in a season of waiting, not sure what’s in store for you, trying to summon some extra hope –

In Hebrew, the word for “hope” is also the word for “wait” – denoting spiritual expectation & anticipation. “This waiting denotes an active process, requiring continual self-examination, a progressive discipleship of a broken heart, contrite spirit, & yielded will.”

Because of our tauntingly LONG winter, we’re a month later with blossomings. If flowers could think, I wonder if my peonies would have been forlorn and confused – “How is it cold STILL?! Pretty sure we should be blooming by now…” But the flowers don’t think— They are just there. Being. In the dirt depths, exactly where they should be.

Let a flower show you the way back to the divine.

Elder Neal A. Maxwell said, “Recall the new star that announced the birth at Bethlehem? It was in its precise orbit long before it so shone. We are likewise placed in human orbits to illuminate & seasons to blossom.”

Did the star contemplate its orbit while in the dark depths of the cosmos? Does the flower contemplate its blossoming while in the dark of the earth? Or is there active trust — hoping & waiting on the Lord’s timing?

Just as the appearance of the star of Bethlehem was orchestrated to coincide with the birth of Jesus Christ, so too is the orchestrated blooming of the key moments in your life. I don’t think it’s by chance the word flower is the same as ‘flow-er.’

There’s something to be said about the flow – when we know timing & guidance is of the Lord, our answers to prayers cannot be demanded or controlled. Flow > force. Be in alignment with the flow of the cosmic universe – trusting God is in perfect control. Be content with the process

When we are in the process of blooming, we can rest assured we do not wait alone. God is aware of us, & He will sustain us. As we learn to trust His timing, we allow God’s work & glory to be carried out in the most perfect, beautiful way. We may not always understand why we must wait. Yet we can have faith that God is in perfect control of the universe, & that your time to blossom like the flower & shine like the star will come.

Trust your orbit of illumination is orchestrated as precisely as the star of Bethlehem. Have faith in the process of blossoming and be open to the flow. Be the flow-er.

I hope you get a sense of grounded peace, soft surrender and illuminating hope when you connect with this painting! It has been so fun to work on and is a powerful reminder to me to trust the process and accept this moment as it is.

Reproduced from the artist’s original artwork of Oil on Canvas.