Hope

Beauty In Waiting

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As winter comes to an end, I think about the bulbs we put into the earth months ago. Holes dug, bulbs lovingly placed, covered with soil. Put to rest until spring. If we plant them at any other time, they would not grow. There would be no blooms.  They need all that time in the ground, in the dark. Resting. Waiting.

But only for a time.

There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens… Ecclesiastes 3:1

At times I feel that twinge of impatience about something, but I try to remember there is a time for everything. Practice patience.

Sometimes I begin to feel overwhelmed, but I remind myself that this is just a busy time, a busy season. It will pass.

At times I focus on concerns about this and that. Questioning and wondering, but I remind myself I do not need to worry. He knows.

Soon there will be blooms. The time will come for these little bulbs to burst out of the soil and shine. God reminds me that there is a time for everything. This is His answer to my concerns and impatience and questioning.

He has made everything beautiful in its time. Ecclesiastes 3:11

There is beauty in the waiting. Like those bulbs waiting patiently until it is their time to shine. He is working in me… in ways I can not see or fully understand. In the quiet and dark times, things are happening. Growing is happening. Changes are happening. Even if we do not see them.

In time, at the right time, in His time, we will see. This gives me comfort and so much hope! I do not have to see to know. I do not have to seek immediate gratification because things are coming.

In His time for me, I will see.

He has a time for us. Perfect timing. We just need to wait and trust. He will bring us what is best for us in its time. With this hope, I have no reason to hurry. I can take time for the life moments that are all important. The little moments that can be rushed by all too easily. With this hope, I understand. Whether it be a season of waiting or a season of blooming, He makes it all beautiful.

I feel I am in a season of waiting and that is ok. I trust there is a reason. Do you find yourself in a time of waiting or time of blooming? With His help, are you finding the patience in your season?

By Jennifer, StudioJRU

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About the Author

Jennifer is an artist living in rural Nebraska with her US Army veteran husband. She loves to create and seeks to reflect the beauty of Christ and encourage others in meaningful, beautiful ways. You can find her and see more of her art on Studio JRU.

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  1. I love this, Jennifer! This analogy with blooming and planting–how apt a metaphor that is to describe our spiritual lives and the seasons they bring! It reminds me of when Jesus says that “the Kingdom of Heaven is like a seed that a man planted…it grew all night while he rested, though he did not see….”–so much can happening when we’re not even realizing it! Thank you so much for this beautiful reminder of that wonderful truth! Blessings!

  2. It’s a little odd but I was applying this to my life and there is one area in the dark waiting for Spring. And two major areas of my life coming out of the ground to bloom. Then one area where there are questions…a little confusion. I thank Him that I am nothing without Him and His love covers every area including me.

  3. This is such a beautiful analogy. I’ve been living an eternal winter for some time now, and this year I feel like the Lord is finally nudging me towards Spring. I am so grateful, so excited, but also thankful that I’ve had the time to sit in the soil and put down some roots before the above ground growth.

    • How wonderful Kimberly to begin feeling HIM nudging you towards spring! So happy for you and so grateful you had time to put down those roots!

  5. Such a well written post! Thanks for sharing your heart. While going through ED recovery and then later fertility treatments to get pregnant I definitely faced a season of waiting on the Lord. I had days of impatience and days of feeling completely overwhelmed but I now see the reason for the waiting. God was growing me, stretching me and using me for His good. I love how you said “In the quiet and dark times, things are happening. Growing is happening. Changes are happening. Even if we do not see them.” Amen! This is so so very true. Thank you.

    • So happy you are able to look back at the time of waiting and see the reasons HE had for you Brittnie! Thanks so much for sharing!

  7. Thanks for sharing these thoughts. I’m in a season of waiting right now. Waiting to see where God is leading me next – to stay or to go. Waiting can be hard, but it is a good place to be when we spend the time with the Lord. I’m praying that whenever he finally tells me which way to go, that I will be open and will know his clear direction. So I can grow up and out to bloom in his Grace.

  8. I find myself experiencing both actually. There’s blooming happening as I see more of my dreams coming true but there’s also waiting in other areas and practicing that patience that you are talking about. I love that verse in Ecclesiastes that there is a season for everything. I’m not a naturally patient person so those times of waiting are great for helping me to stop and just be patient.

    • I totally understand that Jen… I am also not a naturally patient person. HE teaches us during these times, doesn’t HE? 🙂

  10. I have enjoyed gardening for many years and loved your analogy. Yes waiting is hard and, even as I learned to wait through fertility to the eventual birth of a child of our own for my husband and I, I find I need to learn to wait again and again in my life. Just like every new spring planting we learn to plant and then to wait and even to enjoy the waiting for the many hurts we need healed and situations in our lives.
    Something I have waited on for years is the healing of someone whom I love who I was close to who dealt with extreme pain and because of her lashing out have not seen for many years. She was victimized and hurt. Instead of talking to me about it and sharing she would take it out on me until I began to pull away and may have seemed cold. I wished she could have talked to me and we would have healed and grown together. Situations in my life have caused me to be victimized/bullied and now I have a far greater understanding of how difficult it is to deal with situations like that! I hope that there will be healing in her heart and that we will one day have the loving and close relationship that God intends for sisters to have.
    Waiting is hard. I have learned that we are to do our best, pray, then leave it with God in trust and stay open to leading in our own behavior. I ask for everyone’s prayers in this situation.

    • Praying for you and your loved one during this time of waiting Liz. Praying for healing and loving and openness to HIM. Thank you so much for sharing.

  11. Hmmmm. The hardest part is the waiting but it makes all things that much better when they happen right? I am so looking forward to Spring but am trying not to rush it but savor each breaking bud I see.

      • I love your thoughts on waiting on the Lord, I really needed to hear that , that is where I am right now. Keep on lifting up Jesus and other beautiful ladies who need a word of encouragement.

  12. The crocus just bloomed this week, yet the rest of the flower garden lays in rest, at least to our eyes. There are a lot of things just waiting under the earth’s crust to burst forward. Our lives are like that, some things in bloom, some things we still wait on. The things we wait on for years are the hardest things to be patient about. Waiting years to see loved ones come to the Lord is the hardest. Yet, we must wait for the Lord’s timing in such matters. Waiting for pain to pass when dealing with chronic illness, or waiting on healing, is also hard. God does promise to take us through the storms, not around them. Those one or two minute storms seem so long in duration during the midst of them, yet compared to the times of peace and quiet, maybe not so.

    Paul tells us that our lives are a whisper, a blink of the eye, yet some days do seem long. It is the perspective; we view with at any given moment that lets us see, short sighted or long distance. Patience is something we grow into and yet there are times I still lose patience and become anxious, because I loose the big picture, or loose site of seeing things from His view. As we wait for the fullness of our redemption, let us encourage each other all the more towards the strength we need for rough times.
    Mrs. J.

    • I totally understand this Eileen! Learning to be patient in the midst of long waiting, in the midst of the storms. Thank you for your encouragement as we wait for our blooming seasons!

  13. That’s beautifully written & said Jennifer. Waiting periods have never been easy for me, but I have to admit that I haven’t done my part in learning to appreciate patience. It’s certainly a weak area for me that needs growth. I’m thankful though that I’m emerging from a waiting time into a blooming season right now. Can’t wait to see what new joys God is bringing into my life!

  14. Waiting is so hard! But harder still is the “practice patience” part. I’m unsure whether it’s just me, but I find myself wondering how we, as humans, are to present ourselves holy and blameless, during a season that so easily gets the worse out of us. I truly and strongly believe your words, Jen. I do believe that God is in control and He has something beautiful in store for those who wait. And I am waiting.

    • I know how hard the waiting can be. And then I think there is a reason for it all, a reason and things I am learning in the hard waiting. I am waiting too Helen, me too!

  16. I really needed this encouragement today! I am definitely in a season of waiting. I have grown very impatient, because of coarse, I want this to happen now!! This was an eye opener that although it has not happened yet, in due season it will!! Thanks so much for sharing! God bless you!

    • I have to laugh because I have been in that same spot… wanting it to happen now! lol Then things begin to happen in HIS ways in HIS timing and then I see. Then I get it. Your season will come Tameka… it will come! 🙂

  17. Love the wisdom of this post.

    How true that our seasons in the dark, resting and waiting, are not just part of the process, but even necessary.

    Blessings to you . . . .

  19. I cannot tell you how much I needed these words today! I am definitely in a season of waiting – not something that I do well, but am having to learn.

    I know that God has plans for me, and I trust that completely. I tell folks that i just would like him to show me the last paragraph of this chapter!

    Thanks for the reminder…I’m off to buy a couple of bulbs for a visual on my kitchen window.

    • Oh yes, I understand wanting at least a peek of that last paragraph Diana! lol I love you are going to use bulbs in your kitchen window as a visual reminder! 🙂

  20. Thank you so much for this reminder of God’s perfect timing. I am experiencing a bit of both waiting and blooming right now. I am waiting to see just how God can/will use me in my current circumstances, and growing in my trust in Him in the meantime. It’s a beautiful thing, but patience is always a struggle.

  22. Oh, I am mired in a season of waiting. I was gently reminded this morning that when the world ignores, overlooks or dismisses me … there is still One who knows my name. He sees the longing of my heart and holds me while I wait for his plan and his purpose to be accomplished. I make careful notes so that I can pass along the comfort, the encouragement and the hope I have found in the dark, quietness of waiting. May I have eyes to see, ears to hear and a heart that is willing to share this treasure with others … while they wait. Excellent post!

    • Thank you Nan… beautifully said! No matter what, there is always ONE who knows our heart. ONE that has a special plan just for us!

  23. Thank you for this reminder and inspiring words. I am reminded there is even a time to ‘let go’. It is interesting as well as painful to imagine that we sometimes have to let go of things and people that Christ blessed us with. We must not cling too tightly to the blessings…holding very tightly to the GIVER Of all things good, our Lord Jesus Christ, is where wisdom and discernment live.

  26. I have this feeling both of blooming and of waiting. I’ve been able to make a lot of changes in my life that I think allow me to better follow God’s calling. However, there’s still a sense of waiting to see what He is going to do next. I may make plans, but they’re really nothing if His ideas for me are a little different!

    Love the gardening pics!

  27. I would say I am in a time of waiting…but God would say I am in a time of blooming.

    I have come SO far in my walk with the Lord these last few months and even though they’re not very “exciting” they are extremly exciting to the angels and to the Lord…which, is really all that matters.

    • OH how wonderful Kaitlin! How wonderful to be coming along in your walk with HIM. Sounds like HE is doing some special work in your life! 🙂

  30. I am in a season of waiting right now. I have never been good at being patient and I know that God is growing me through this right now! I have always been uncomfortable with not knowing what is going to come next and instead of being okay with the time inbetween different expirences in my life I make quick decisions so that I will know what is coming. I have finally come to a place where I am resting in the time in between and really digging in and searching myself. I really idenitfied with yesterdays post about living someone elses dream. I have been doing that my whole life to the point where now, I have no idea what it is that I really want! It is crazy to finally discover that I have been living out someone else’s expectations for my life. I am now taking the time to reexamine my life and discover what God’s desires for my life and what my desires are as well. I am trusting that I will figure out what God wants me to do. It is not easy not knowing what is going to come next but I am trusting that God is going to lead me into what it is he has planned for me in his time! Thank you for this post! Your website has been a HUGE encouragement to me!

    • I totally relate to being more comfortable when I know what is coming next. I get that! It sounds like you have taken an important decision in your journey to trust and learn what HE has planned for you! That is awesome Elisabeth! So happy for you in the waiting!

  31. How dark and lonely is this place within the soil. Buried so deep, out of reach, surviving on prayers and hope. But He placed me there. Broken and forgotten I lay alone for what felt like so long but now I feel a strength that is not my own, growing, growing, up, up toward the surface and the light and the warmth of the sun that I know will feel again one day.
    Because He planted, He waters and He will give the increase.
    My loving, tender, gracious all-knowing Gardener knows best.
    Spring will come.

    • It sure will Esther. Spring will sure come because of HIS tender care. Such a blessing that you are feeling a strength that is not your own growing each day! So happy for you!

  32. Wow, Jen, I LOVE when God brings the same thing up in two people’s hearts at the same time. I’m in a season of waiting, too, and I wrote about it at the blog today. What a beautiful post. I needed it so much this morning. God bless, friend! 🙂

  33. whatever you do don’t pray for more patience!!! the only way to get is is by practice…of course i am kidding…b/c we have al felt like this many times…
    God is smarter than I am …that is all i know when I struggle…
    Happy Thursday!!

  35. As I was reading this, I kept hearing in my head “Be Still, Be Still…” God wants us to do less and seek him more, to Listen in the waiting…Thank you for this beautiful moment in my day!

  36. My dear friend Linda Andersen is almost 70 and reminds me that when I don’t have time to write (or create, or minister) that I am writing my life. It helps.

    My friend Kristyn tells me that when I can’t see the fruit yet, that the roots are spreading under the ground. The footprint of my tree is getting larger.

  37. At times I feel that twinge of impatience …I almost always have twinges of impatience…don’t have any patience at all.

    I have consistently rushed through my work life- thinking I knew more than the people around me. Now I find myself in a waiting spot..on God. I want to be rid of this job and into something different–either doing patients (Medical Assistant) or Coding.

    I know that God is growing me in this time and getting me to work on my thought life as well. There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens… Ecclesiastes 3:1 is fast becoming one of my favorite Bible verses. I know it by heart, I just need to put it into my head and believe it!

    • It is beautiful words and such a wonderful reminder to us. Every activity under the heaven… *every one* has a season and a time. Happy to hear you see HIS growing in you during your time of waiting. Patience isn’t easy for me either… I get that! 🙂

  38. I’m really working on blooming where I’m planted. It’s hard…and if I didn’t have God by side it would be impossible 🙂 🙂 Love and hugs from the ocean shores of California, Heather 🙂

  41. Jennifer,

    I am, also, in a time of waiting and blooming. I am waiting for the right time to get pregnant, after miscarriage two years, ago. I was not ready to try, again, right away, after. Many reasons… I am, also, in a time of blooming, as my heart is growing toward the light. I grieved in the dark for a year. I have been growing toward the light, this past year. God is changing my heart’s desire to match HIS will. I have learned who God is through all of it. HE brought me to life. I’m the one who needed to be “born”.

    Thank you for this. It’s very beautifully written. It describes exactly where I am. I will be recording the verses, as my favorites.

    Jen

    • Jen… thank you so much for sharing your journey of waiting and blooming. How wonderful to feel God changing your heart’s desire to match HIS. That is beautiful!!

  42. I loved this article!! Loved it! … and … after 12+ years, I am finally in the stage of blooming. Even blooming takes time, but as the bud slowly unfolds, so does the beauty. And in that beauty I discovered the growing ability to self love – something I never knew before and I am 46 years old. It is like a romance between my God and me.

    “To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under heaven … there is a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance … ” ~ Ecclesiastes 3

    • Oh yes… even the blooming takes time. But it can be so beautiful each step of the way. So happy to hear you are dancing!!

  44. Thank you so much for this post! I feel like I have been lying dormant in the dark ground forever, waiting and waiting for what God as for me next. The thought that I am actually growing roots that will make me stronger for the time when I do push through the soil and into the growth and life God has for me is very encouraging!
    Bernice
    Are you living life’s moments?

    • We just never know all the work that is going on while we are in a waiting season Bernice! Those roots will give you strength in the end! 🙂

  46. The seeds of God’s Word in the dark rich soil of my heart will yeild such beauty, YAY! We all long to see the light. Learning to wait in the soil and to receive while waiting. Bulbs are not just waiting, but they are receiving all they need to grow into all they are meant to be. Beautiful post. I am also reminded not to give up on those in whom which I see no growth. I can’t wait until they spontaneously combust with beauty and make their way up to the Son!

  47. I think this post was written just for me. Thank you for sharing! I’m in a waiting season myself and struggling. Trying to seek Him with everything and truly trying to enjoy the rest I’ve been given and enjoy the life moments given in this time. Will be reading this often in the days to come 🙂