In the Waiting...

It’s such a beautiful time of year. Arriving back to the UK from overseas, I was impacted afresh by the beauty of the beginning of spring and how a new season can’t be rushed. Some of the spring flowers are in full bloom; others are still in tight bud. While they are in tight bud, it’s not that those buds aren’t doing anything, but in the waiting they are preparing. They are getting ready, receiving the sunlight and nutrients from the earth that they need, before they can burst out into their fullness and bloom.

I was reminded of the almond blossom I saw on the trees in Israel a few months ago. I was fascinated to learn that in the old days, the almond blossom marked the first sign for farmers that spring was ahead. They knew the seasons, not by dates or times like we do now, but they relied on nature. These trees were noticed before all the other trees that were still dormant from winter, because they were the first to bloom, marking the beginning of new things, of fresh growth. The blossom on the tree doesn’t bloom all at once, but comes out little by little. More and more flourishes as the buds open up.

Just like the almond blossom helped those farmers to know that the waiting for spring was nearly over, and that they could prepare for the new season, so too the Lord prepares us. Sometimes it’s hard when we feel we are waiting. We may question, “Is anything happening? Has the Lord forgotten me?”

I love this verse in Jeremiah:
Then the Lord said to me, “Look, Jeremiah! What do you see?”
And I replied, “I see a branch from an almond tree.”
And the Lord said, “That’s right, and it means that I am watching, and I will certainly carry out all my plans.” Jeremiah 1:11-12 (NLT)

The Lord is watching over each one of us; He has not forgotten us. We live in such a microwave-ready society, where there is an expectation that things should happen instantly. Yet like the blossom buds, flourishing bit by bit, so do we, as we look to Him and trust in His timing. If we try to push the buds to bloom before their time by prodding and trying to open the buds ourselves, their beauty is lost and they die prematurely, because they weren’t ready.

There might be something that you are waiting for the Lord to do in your life; something that you expected to happen quite some time ago. Or you might know that the Lord is preparing you for a new season, but right now you are in a time of transition and waiting, where nothing seems to be happening.

The Lord wants to encourage us that His timing is perfect and in the waiting He is preparing us and getting us ready for His plans and purposes, for us to blossom and bloom into our full God-given destiny.

Prayer: Father in Heaven, thank you that You are watching over me and You will carry out Your plans in my life. Thank you that your timing is perfect and that You see me, You have not forgotten me. Please forgive me for where I’ve had my agenda over timing and have been trying to make things happen in my own strength. Help me to choose to trust in You and Your ways afresh today and to be patient and wait on You. I love You Lord. In Jesus name, Amen.