When Flowers Bloom at Night

Bless the LORD, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name! Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits, who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy, who satisfies you with good so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s. —Psalm 103:1–5, ESV

I am privileged to own a few tropical Cereus cactus plants.

Some refer to this plant as the queen of the night.

It is also known as a night-blooming cereus and an orchid cactus.

This unique species blooms once a year and only at night.

One evening, as the shadows lengthened and the night darkened, I observed, with utter delight, the succulent petals beginning to unfold.

Simultaneously, a delightful jasmine-like fragrance perfumed the night air. As the evening progressed, the petals slowly, inch by inch, began to open.

Around midnight, the waxy white petals had fully opened in all their splendor, exposing a golden-yellow interior. It was beautiful! At full bloom, the petals spread wide and radiantly, and then gradually, they began to fold and close.

By the first sign of dawn, the last petal had closed, and the entire bloom hung limp. One night of glory in which it had enjoyed a few hours of magnificence before it returned to its original, unassuming pre-bloom posture. Like the night-blooming cereus that blooms in the dark, God sometimes calls on us to bloom in the most difficult, darkest times of life. If we can learn to trust Him in the dark, we will be able to smile, give an encouraging word, and tell others of His love and care when they experience their own dark moments—and He receives all the glory. We represent Jesus to others in our lowest, darkest valley experiences as much as in our mountaintop experiences. If, in spite of our pain, they can smell the sweet fragrance of God’s love, peace, and long-suffering through us, we will have exuded the sweet-smelling perfume of an indwelling Savior. When Jesus abides within us, we can be at peace during adversity. When we reflect on how God has led us, how He had provided for us, and how He has sustained us, we can truly say that God has been good to us, in the sunshine and the shadows, on the mountain and in the valleys, and in all seasons of our lives.