The beauty of life is that the Lord provides in the most beautiful ways, even in the most unusual of circumstances. 

Regardless of if we are deserving or not, even if we are praying for such blessings or not, He still provides. In the most beautiful and hopeful ways, in His love and mercy He continues to bless us a hundredfold. 

But despite this beauty, we are human. We tend to get ahead of ourselves and take things into our own hands. We believe we have the power to make things happen for ourselves, usually for selfish reasons. Reasons that benefit us and feed our innermost desires and grant us temporary happiness. 

We get ahead of ourselves and we fail to trust in the Lord and hope for His perfect plan, because our selfishness blinds us to our growth and opportunity to blossom in the Lord’s perfect timing.

The Lord plants us in places and moments in our lives because He knows that it is where we are called to grow and blossom into a beautiful and stable “plant.”

It is in those moments that we can further understand who we are called to be as sons and daughters of God. In those moments that He equips us with blessings and experiences we need to reach our full potential to best glorify Him. 

Oftentimes we grow in areas that do not necessarily bring us closer to Christ but rather keep us from growing. Usually we fail to recognize such cases, like an intoxicating relationship, a bad habit or even materialistic objects. We need to set our pride aside and really tend to these “weeds” so that we can continue on growing closer to Christ. 

Too often in tending to these weeds we rid ourselves of other opportunities that give us life. I’ve learned this the hard way. After several attempts at making things happen in my own life and being disappointed in the end, I’ve surrendered my hopes and dreams and offered them up to the Lord. 

That is when He truly begins to bless my life and water me with opportunities that not only challenge me but helped me grow stronger in my faith and in my relationship with others and the Lord. He has allowed me to see the beauty of life if only I remain still and let Him do the rest. 

It takes the smallest of trees to blossom into the biggest and strongest trees in this lifetime. Slowly and beautifully, they reach the skies and reach out to the heavens. 

Rather than taking things into your own hands, place your trust in the Lord and allow yourself to bloom where you are planted. 

(Contreras, 20, is a third-year creative communications student at University of Winnipeg.)