- Coffee Hour @ Chicklit Power...
The last several weeks have been founded on the necessary part of tending a garden -- water, weeding and fertilizing -- in order for our harvest to be healthy. The anticipation of the first sprouts to pop up through the ground is so fulfilling, yet we know that even in our lives as believers, the work is never done or complete! It is a continual, perpetual place of growing.
I recall my grandparents’ farm. It was quite large and I remember watching them both labor; he would build a fence, a stronghold that would surround his precious fields preventing intruders to invade and destroy his work. He invested long hours in the field to give way to a fruitful harvest. They never gave up, never grew weary or discouraged. As a child I recalled asking him when we would see the fruits and vegetables pop out, and grandma’s reply was, “It’s not time yet. We just have to continue to wait.” They knew the process of waiting, trusting in the seed that was planted.
In the waiting; it truly can be the hardest time for most. It can be discouraging and it can definitely be unfruitful.
Waiting on God is not easy and is a crucial step in our lives in which our dependence upon God grows.
Our hearts often cry out in distress. Wait on the Lord; be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart; Wait, I say, on the Lord! Psalm 27:14
We can easily feel worried and second-guess our motives. We yearn for freedom and provision, yet waiting upon the Lord for needed supplies is one common area in which He trains us. The garden is always in need of continual care, even when we don’t see any productivity. Our soul gardens are in continual need of Him and His care for our lives. Yet it’s in those times when we are needy that we are forced to look to the Lord for help.
The other day someone said to me, "But I don't like what the Lord is bringing me through." Yes, how true this is, yet we must have the confidence in God in order for us not to squirm, squiggle and squeak!
He knows what He is doing! The survival of the seed in the ground must squirm, squiggle and squeak, so to speak, in order to produce efficiently.
Therefore when someone comes to the Lord, through salvation, remember it is a gradual process of a walk by faith. Their beginnings may seem small but as they grow in the grace of God, their faith too will increase. The parable of the mustard seed says: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his field. Though it is the smallest of all seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds come and perch in its branches.” Matthew 13:31-32
If we live by confidence in our own means and abilities, will we not become certain of God’s power working in us? What glory does that bring to God? But through this process, God enables us to depend upon Him so that we know it is only He who does wonderful things in our lives.
Ultimately then, waiting upon God protects us, deepens our trust in Him, forces us to seek His ways and brings Him the most glory.
Next week I’m hoping to conclude “A call to Sow”. We’re going to find an example in God’s Word of a couple who experienced seasons of waiting. And through their waiting, and might I add a time of even questioning God, a seed produced, a seed called Isaac, the Son of promise.
Have a wonderful weekend and remember….keep Him close to your heart!
Love, DebbieP.S. Now that we've had our coffee with Debbie, would you join me in
offering up a prayer of health and blessing to the most amazing woman,
my self-adopted mom who is celebrating her 87th birthday today! Mom, I
thank God for the day He put you in my life, to walk alongside me,
whisper wisdom and love into my soul, to be the first person to show
me that unconditional love.... I love you with all that I am and know
that I am who I am because He's used you to help me become all that He
requires me to become!
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