The Beauty of Seasons of Waiting

Children are born with little understanding of the value of waiting. Any parent or teacher can attest to that, especially during the days leading up to special events. The minutes seem like hours; the hours seem like days, and the days like years. Parents feel their children’s anxiety and frustration, and while they sympathise, most adults know it will be well worth the wait. If Christmas gifts were opened on December 12th and birthday candles were blown out three days before the great day, and if Thanksgiving were celebrated in July, the actual days of celebration would fall flat. Joyful anticipation is a needed ingredient for any celebration.

A groom becomes frustrated at all the elaborate planning that goes on for months before his wedding, but his frustration melts away at the first glance of his bride as she approaches on her father’s arm. A mother longs for the day that the baby growing inside her is safe and snug in her arms, yet prays that the day won’t come prematurely. Workers wait for retirement while hoping they still have enough time to build a healthy nest egg through diligent saving. Parents dream of grandchildren but pray their children are married and well-established young adults before those grandchildren appear.

We underestimate God’s high value on our trust in the waiting as we look forward to the harvest of His promises.

In our impatience to see God’s hand move in stressful situations, we demand of Him, “Now, Lord!” We fail to understand the necessity of seasons of waiting.

When I was a child, my mother had a beautiful flower garden. My favourite perennials in that garden were her peony bushes. They took a long time to blossom in comparison to her annuals. In my impatience, I would try to help the flowers by peeling the sticky leaves away from the large buds. The resulting distorted, puny flowers puzzled my mother. She never caught me in the act of performing exploratory surgery on her plants. As a preschooler, it never occurred to me that my attempts to help Mother Nature caused each flower peeled open to fall short of its full potential.

 Galatians 6:9 – “And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.”

God knows that there is a season for all things. He tends His crops by nurturing and watering them with His truths while patiently waiting to harvest until just the right moment. God only declares it is the harvest season when His plans are matured. God’s plans and purposes will always come to pass in due time. His promises do not fail, and His word does not return void.

He knows the longings of our hearts as He planted many of those longings there. However, make no mistake. God will not allow a crop to be harvested before its time.

If you are longing for the harvest of promises God planted in your heart, trust the Lord of the harvest to bring forth all things in the right season.

Isaiah 55:10-11 – “For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.”

All Bible verses, unless otherwise attributed, are from the English Standard Version (ESV).

Until Next Week

©2023 Katherine Walden

 

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