When we moved into this house back in April,
one of the many things I was looking forward to was gardening. The yard in
our current house is a manageable size, and since almost no landscaping has
been done, it is, to me, like a blank artist's pallet, waiting to be
created.
Of course, landscaping is incredibly expensive,
but even this first year we've managed to do a few things, keeping the cost
down by picking up freebies and buying used things off of an internet
buy/sell forum. We've even managed to plant some cedar trees and perennials
without breaking the wallet.
As I was laying out some bricks yesterday that
someone had been giving away, I couldn't help imagining how this new bed
would look filled with beautiful irises. Then I looked over at the bed we
had created earlier in the season, and I couldn't help but imagine it as
filled with tall, mature cedars, with large, beautiful perennials
underneath. But then, reality struck: The cedars were 2 feet tall, and the
frost had already gotten the perennials... And as for the bed I was
creating, yes, I had ordered the iris bulbs, but I couldn't expect even a
single flower until spring... As I glanced around the rest of the yard, I
was overwhelmed with the amount of blank spaces still on my artist's
pallet... Why couldn't my yard look beautiful... NOW!
Isn't this the way it is in life? We are
programmed to want instant gratification of our desires. As people of faith,
when we have a problem, we cry out to God; but oh, the disappointment when
His answers seem non-existent/ I still remember how unhappy I was, for
example, that our house hadn't sold—after it had been on the market last
year for only two weeks! Or maybe our desire isn't selfish at all. Maybe we
are claiming the promise that God will deliver us from
addiction/depression/anxiety/anger/selfishness/________(you fill in the
blank)! But after praying and seeking God, we continue to be plagued with
the same!
Yet if I close my eyes, I can imagine how my new
iris bed will in a few years when the bulbs have multiplied. And I can
imagine my cedar trees, tall and full. And I can imagine the other
landscaping work done. That is what keeps me going in the garden, the
realization that it will someday be something beautiful.
Is that what can keep me going as well when what I
am praying about doesn't seem to be materializing?
You see, I have faith that my plants will grow and
be beautiful. I have faith that I will find my landscaping needs over the
years for affordable prices. I have faith that one day my yard will look
nice.
Do I also have faith that God will make everything
beautiful in my life as well? Can I continue to look to Him, to draw nearer
to Him, to learn to depend upon Him and Him alone while I am waiting? Do I
trust that God keeps His promises, and that He truly DOES make everything
beautiful...in HIS time?
The thing is, I know that it wouldn't be good for
those bulbs to grow right away, what with winter coming on and all. They
will sprout -- when the time is right!
Do I have faith that when it seems God isn't
answering my prayers, it's also for a very good reason? Do I have faith that
my miracles will arrive...when the time is right?
It is certainly food for thought, and as I look
out at my bare beds, I will try to remember that just like I know the bulbs
will sprout in the spring, I can also be sure that God's miracles will
arrive -- at just the right time!
"He has made everything beautiful in its time."
(Eccl. 3:11a NIV)
In His love,
Lyn Chaffart, Moderator,
The Illustrator/The Nugget with
Answers2Prayer Ministries.