Then the LORD God planted a garden in Eden in the east, and there he placed the man he had made. Genesis 2:8
A Plant on the Porch
I really enjoy growing things. These days I am limited to a decorative pot on my porch. In that very pot, I have a perennial flower that bloomed beautifully when I bought it, but it went dormant for what felt like forever. It was at least a year. This didn’t seem normal. The plant was healthy, but it had no flowers on the vine until just a few weeks ago. Without any warning, I began to see tiny buds appear.
Maybe God Likes to Wait
In our world of instant everything, we expect things to come quickly, without delay. Fast food, an internet that NEVER lags, and answers to complex questions in seconds, thanks to ChatGPT. We have grown accustomed to skipping the wait. Even Disney World offers options that eliminate the obnoxious inconvenience of standing in line. In some ways we have lost our ability to slow down and wait.
God created much of what we see around us with a word. But He also planted a garden. (Genesis 2:8) Imagine the God of the universe subjecting Himself to the slow, painful process of waiting for grass, trees, and flowers actually to grow. Perhaps He also enjoys watching something appear out of the soil, often without warning and without outside help.
There is No Such Thing as Instant Fruit
Seeds are hardwired to let the pressure, moisture, and surrounding environment initiate a growth process that cannot be fully understood. Oh, we can watch it and document the changes, but try explaining that on day twenty a leaf popped out over the course of a few hours. Or describe the moment-by-moment unfurling of that leaf until it is fully extended, without the help of anyone. Who set the time clock for seed to plant to fruit?
We may understand that there is a time and season for everything; however, it is easy to get impatient. The truth is, the day you plant the seed is not the day you eat the fruit. The process of maturity cannot be rushed. We can certainly add some miracle grow to the mix through learning, wise counsel and trial and error, but even these do not guarantee a speedy process.
Stewardship is Intentional
Stewardship isn’t a one-time endeavor. It takes time and patience. The goal is the harvest; the growing season is the test. It is a race to see who will get to enjoy the fruit. A myriad of insects and animals are also waiting for the prize. Some animals are more interested in the healthy vegetation and sabotage the harvest before the plant buds. If the plant survives the animal invasion, insects come to ravage the leaves, flowers, and fruit, and leave nothing but a sickly plant.
Tending our hearts is one of the most important parts of the growth process in our lives. It is far too easy to allow a situation or a person to talk us out of waiting for the fruit. The temptation to take a shortcut is real. Everyone is on a mission to be the first. But what we lose in the exchange of tomorrow’s fruit for today’s gratification is often the ability to produce fruit at all. We eye the plant thinking it is the best part of the journey, not realizing it was meant for our future, not simply for today.
Don’t Shortchange the Season
The hope of the harvest gives us the capacity to endure the process from seed to harvest. Adjusting expectations based on an understanding that fruit takes time is the first step to outlasting the pressure to shortchange the season. The truth is, if we skip the necessary growth journey this season, we will find ourselves reliving it in the next.
Like my plant on the porch, it is unwise to judge progress by what we don’t see budding. We can mistake dormancy for death. I could have tossed it and replaced it with a new one. But nothing was wrong with the plant; it was just preparing for the next blooming season. I learned to appreciate the greenery and cared for it, hoping for more. My patience yielded some beautiful flowers!
Waiting is Not Wasted
Perhaps we need to stop measuring our lives by what is blooming and learn to trust what God is doing beneath the surface. Not every season will show visible progress. Some seasons are for growing roots. Some are for resting. Some prepare a bloom we cannot yet see.
Maybe God likes to wait because He knows the waiting is not wasted. So, if your life feels dormant right now, don’t be so quick to get discouraged and give up. Keep watering. Keep tending. Keep trusting because one day, without warning, tiny buds will appear.