These Things Take Time

It is amazing (and scary!) how fast-paced our world has become.

In one month, you achieve a level of expertise as to whether something was worth your money or not.

In two weeks, you will have abs that rival Taylor Lautner’s (apparently?)

In one day, you can receive a letter from across the country.

In two minutes you have a hot meal ready to be consumed.

In a few seconds, you have archives of information at your fingertips in the form of THE INTERNET.

It all happens so fast, each moment flowing to the next at a rapid and almost manic pace. We live in a society where instant gratification is the norm, but what happens when we have to wait? All of a sudden, each moment becomes a chore and is filled with discontent. We often become bored and/or frustrated, leading us to just give up. This is so sad because when we rush, we give up and close our eyes to the beauty that God has planned for us. Take a flower for example. When the seed is planted, it still looks like a cup of dirt. In fact, it looks like a cup of dirt for a while. Look:

  Yep, not very pretty and pretty boring. Then it starts to sprout, and you have a tiny glimpse at the potential this seed has to become something beautiful. It is a green sprout for a while, growing a little bit each day.

After what feels like an eternity of green sproutness (why yes dear spellcheck, I am aware this is not a word by your standards) there is a bud! Finally, it is now obvious that something beautiful is about to bloom. It is right on the verge, you can see it happening REALLY soon!

This doesn’t happen overnight though. This too, takes time. FINALLY, after days of slow and agonizing growth that tests anyone’s patience, a beautiful flower has bloomed. It is no longer a cup of dirt, but has changed into something truly beautiful. 

While it has a beautiful ending, it did start with a rather boring beginning as a cup of dirt, and it stayed that way for a long time. If we stopped watering the cup of dirt, however, and gave up on it, we never would get to see the beauty it has to offer later on. Often we do exactly this with many trials in our lives. I hear a lot of my friends say “I prayed, but it didn’t work so I stopped”. This honestly makes me want to cry. God has beautiful plans for us, and He always has! We just have to wait! I really love this verse from Jeremiah, because it really sums this whole thing up “For I know well the plans I have in mind for you, says the LORD, plans for your welfare, not for woe! Plans to give you a future full of hope” (Jeremiah 29:11). WOW! God has an AMAZING future planned for us! This future is going to be a more beautiful flower than we ever could have imagined. The best part is that it is growing RIGHT NOW! God has planted the seed within you, because He knew His plans for you before YOU WERE EVEN CONCEIVED. Sometimes, it may look like life is a cup of a dirt, but we must remember what that cup of dirt will become. We just have to give it time to grow. The most beautiful things do not come right away. The yummiest meal is not made in minutes (despite what all the advertisements claim). The happiest marriage does not come within seconds of meeting someone. These things take time. We just have to remind ourselves that and trust God AND in His timing. Our God is limitless; therefore He cannot be bound by time. Let us not limit Him by giving up when He does not “satisfy our timing” but rather let us trust in Him to reveal to us the beauty He has planned for us according to His timing.

Keep trusting!

Your Sister In Christ,

Dani