This is my Amaryllis. It has come into full flower today ( there are actually three flowers, lovely huge red trumpets) It is standing proud on my windowsill. Funny thing is though, I bought two of them at the same time. They were both bulbs with just a short shoot protruding from the earth. I gave one to Gladys and I kept one for myself. Gladys's Amaryllis flowered weeks ago! It grew much more quickly than mine and pushed out its three red trumpets despite the fact that in her care home nobody waters the plants and it was down to me to do it once a week - which isnt really enough water. The difference between Gladys's place and mine is temperature. In her care home they keep the rooms exceedingly warm - I imagine the amaryllis thought it was back home in its natural tropical habitat! My house is probably on the chilly side. We only have the heating on for an hour in the morning and then for a few hours in the evening cos we are all out all day. Both plants flowered beautifully - but the climate affected their rate of growth.I was admiring my lovely flower this afternoon and I felt God nudge me about the climate thing. A couple of weeks ago in church the sermon was about worship - about how when we worship the spiritual atmosphere changes and how rather than being thermometers ( able to tell the temperature) we need to be thermostats ( able to regulate and change the temperature)
We are all growing ( hopefully) in our faith and our spiritual lives - and we are all growing in a 'climate'. Sometimes we can look around us and wonder why everyone else is doing better than we are. ( Now sometimes that isnt actually real - it is just our inferiority complex getting one over on us. But sometimes our assessment is right. Other people are doing better than we are. ) Other people who started the journey at the same time as us seem to be ahead of us on the road. Why is that? Why is it that some people seem to shoot up and grow so quickly and others make slow progress and seem to need lots of help? Maybe it is partly to do with the temperature of the greenhouse in which we find ourselves. Hmmmmm.
To unpack a bit....... I think the people with whom we surround ourselves contribute to our spiritual temperature. If we surround ourselves with lukewarm people we will pretty soon become lukewarm ourselves. And we know what Jesus has to say about lukewarm people. Seasons of difficulty, ill health, financial stress, tiredness can also bring the temperature down a little if we are not careful.
We are responsible for our own growth - its no excuse to blame other people or circumstances. We can choose not to grow. We can sit in a plantpot as a shoot or a bud and be dormant for ages and ages. But the truth is we were meant to flower. So being dormant is never going to be satisfying for very long. And really when it comes down to the wire we know what we need to be doing to up the temperature so we can blossom and bloom. We need to be in the Word, praying, worshipping, giving, serving, fellowshipping with passionate people, looking up and out rather than in. We know all of this. But it is sometimes just so hard to do isnt it?
I suppose at the end of the day, regardless of when we come into full bloom, once we are flowering then we are beautiful. Our flower is unique and gives a perfume all its own. Our colours will be special and lovely. We will be doing what we were created to do. So if you feel that right now you are barely poking your nose above the soil, or that you are reaching for the sun but havent fully flowered yet - turn up the heat a bit. Get around some people who are already in full bloom. Crank up the worship music and change the atmosphere by your praise. Let the Holy Spirit water you and the Word of God feed you. Spring is here - the season of singing is upon us. Its time to bloom
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