Patience in the Process

 I hardly consider myself a gardener. In fact, I often feel like a plant’s worst enemy having killed a fair share of them in my day. Yet, I still have Pinterest fueled dreams of gorgeous raised garden beds in my backyard. They’d be brimming with succulent homegrown vegetables and lush flowers in glittering jewel tones. In my mind, it looks and sounds so achievable, yet I have to be honest with myself. A green thumb have I not. And most importantly, I lack a crucial component to gardening…patience.

The growing of plants is a process. From the preparing of the soil, to the placement of the seed, to the first tiny green sprout and the constant care and nurturing until full bloom. Its a process that is certainly not glamorous. You’ve got to get down on your knees and get plenty dirty to even get things started. But the outcome, be it a beautiful flower garden, fresh grown veggies, or a tree for shade, is always worth the pain and process of the planting and tending.

We are the plants of this earth. God is our gardener.

Everyone wants to grow. To bloom. To be fruitful. But are we willing to endure the process? Are we willing to be planted deep down in the dirtiest of dirt. To be tended, fertilized and pruned? We live in a world of instant gratification that has diminished our ability to wait patiently. I know I have struggled still struggle with this even in the very moment that I write this. But I have come to learn that the process requires our patience. The waiting breeds growth, strength and increases our faith in measures we could not on our own. Though waiting is sometimes painful, frustrating or feels downright unbearable, it is needed to prepare us to take on the life of blessing and bloom that He has promised us.

 HE is the one who is planting and preparing us and He promises to let us bloom at just the right time. If you haven’t bloomed yet, then it is not time. No matter how ready or certain you feel. The only thing that is required of us is to wait patiently.