by Jennifer Greene-Sullivan
For five years, my Christmas cacti sat in a window.
They were healthy. They were green. They grew new segments faithfully, but they never bloomed. I watered them, turned them toward the light, and waited through season after season with no visible change. They were alive — just not flowering or flourishing.
Then, in December of 2025, for the very first time, they bloomed. I stood there in the quiet of the morning in our tiny house office and stared at those gorgeous blossoms like they were a miracle because in my heart they were. Five years of unseen rooting, strengthening, and quiet life had suddenly given way to color. Now, only a short time later, they are blooming again.
Gloriously, what has undone me most is a cactus that had never bloomed at all. I moved it — that’s all — and placed it between the two that had already flowered twice. Now, the bloomless one has buds.
Abiding Changes the Outcome
All week the words of Jesus have been echoing in our home and at our office through Liam’s Awana verse:
“Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.” — John 15:4
Position matters. Light matters. Being near life that flourishes matters. The plant was never dead. The bloom was always inside it. It simply needed to be repositioned where it could receive what it had been missing. How many times has the Lord done the same with me? The Lord did not discard me in seasons without flowers, but quietly, He moved me closer to His presence… closer to His light… closer to people who were already blooming.
Not for comparison —
for discipleship.
For life.
Five Years Was Not Wasted Time
What looked like barrenness was actually preparation.
The roots were deepening.
The strength was forming.
The life was there all along.
“Let us not grow weary in doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.” — Galatians 6:9
In the Kingdom, hidden seasons are never wasted; hidden seasons are the years when Christ developed fruit within us.
How Do We Know We Have Fruit?
We do not always recognize fruit by visible success, by numbers, or by applause. Fruit in the Kingdom is most often revealed in the quiet, costly moments of the heart. We know we are bearing fruit when we forgive anyway. When the wound is still tender, and the memory still sharp. Yet, we release the debt because Christ released ours. Grace is freely given, yet when we show grace to others, it often cost of something. Often times, it hurts, it breaks our hearts, yet we do it anyway because Jesus redeemed us anyway.
We know we are bearing fruit when we offer grace anyway. When someone has given us every reason to withdraw, to harden, or to walk away — and instead we soften because the Holy Spirit is still soft within us.
We know we are bearing fruit when we love anyway.
Not when it is returned.
Not when it is celebrated.
Not when it is easy.
We bear fruit when love becomes our obedience rather than our emotion.
“By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be My disciples.” — John 15:8
Fruit is not proven in the spotlight.
Fruit is proven in the anyway.
The Beauty of Blooming Again
What moves me most is that this was not a one-time flowering. They bloomed in December. Now, they bloom again in February. When we abide, fruitfulness becomes a rhythm instead of a rare event.
“Those who are planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God.” — Psalm 92:13
This is not the result of striving harder. It is the result of remaining. It is a result of abiding.
The Invitation to Abide
Maybe you feel like you have sat in the same place for years without visible fruit. Maybe you have been faithful in the watering, faithful in the waiting, faithful in showing up — and you are still wondering when something will change. Hear this: You are not barren. You are being rooted. When the Lord repositions you into His light — the bloom that has always been inside of you will begin to open.
Not by effort.
Not by performance.
BY ABIDING.
Prayer
Lord Jesus, teach me to abide in You. Move me wherever You desire so that my life is fully turned toward Your light. Forgive me for striving in my own strength and for mistaking activity for intimacy. Let my heart remain in Your presence. Form in me the fruit that only comes from being near You — a heart that forgives anyway, gives grace anyway, and loves anyway. Bloom in me what I could never produce on my own. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
The bloom was always there.
It just needed to be positioned in the light.
John 8:12
“When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”
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