What Happens When We Wait on the Lord

Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him.

Psalm 37:7

Waiting patiently is hard, especially when we can’t see what’s happening.

Farmers know something about this. My daily walk takes me through a valley of farms. Tomatoes, cucumbers, beans, squash, strawberries, grapes, and potatoes all grow in their seasons. One garden will be lush and green, while mere yards away, a plot lies plowed and ready for new seed. Yet another garden just beyond stands at attention, its earthen rows tidy and straight, planted, yet no sign of growth. My neighbors know how to make the most of the earth God has given them in all seasons. 

But there is one thing hidden from the farmer and from us. Something he or she just has to be patient and wait for.

After the farmer plants the seed beneath the soil, he cannot see what happens in the cold, molten darkness. He can water his hope, he can protect it from pests and weeds, can even fertilize it. But there is a period of time when the farmer simply cannot see with his eyes what is transpiring in the secret place.

Growth is a sacred work, and all growth is a process of life from death. Growth in the secret place belongs to the Maker of seeds and the fruit they bear.

Death is happening below those earthen rows so tidy and straight. The seeds are letting go of their old life, the form they once knew. They are splitting open, shedding their limitations. There is a power in them that cannot be stopped. Within smallness is mighty life. And life overcomes death.

Life splits the old open and pushes toward the light. What it leaves behind becomes part of what nourishes it to stretch tall and alive.

One morning, the farmer discovers a tiny, mighty green shoot.

While the farmer waited, God worked. The Master Gardener brought life from death.

Among the Master Gardener’s most fruitful seeds is one called Suffering. He tills the earth of our hearts and plants His Suffering seed in season. It is so hard to wait patiently just after that seed sinks into human soil, those long hours and days when we don’t know what’s happening. But in the blackness, a miracle unfolds. Our old life, our old form, surrenders to death. New life surges toward the light and pierces the ceiling of our darkness. We burst out different, alive, thriving, our new limbs bearing fruit for passers-by.

Some seeds take longer than others to die. The wait can be long for those stubborn seeds. But wise farmers wait patiently, knowing that the slowest seeds produce some of the sweetest fruit known to man.

While we #wait for the sacred surrender that happens in the unseen place, we can remind our souls with the Psalmist, “Wait on the Lord, let your heart take courage!” (Psalm 27:14) Share on X

Are you suffering today? Are you waiting for purpose to emerge from pain? Wait on the Lord, dear one, and let your heart take courage. The Master Gardener is working where you cannot see. One morning life will shoot forth from this darkness and bear so much fruit you’ll have plenty to share.

Lord, I choose to be still and wait patiently for You today, even when I cannot see. Amen.

@audreycfrank

Image by Meepownd from Pixabay