The end of something is better than its beginning. Patience is better than pride.
Ecclesiastes 7:8
I am a fairly proficient little housekeeper. I like to do all the housekeeping things. I like to clean. I like to cook. I like to bake. I enjoy decorating my home and I take pride in my (mostly) well-kept house. But there is one area in which I am miserable in the housekeeping department—gardening.
I am not a good gardener. You’ve heard of having the green thumb? My thumb must be poisonous because I end up killing almost every single plant I own. I don’t try to kill them—on the contrary, I try to take very good care of them! But I either forget to water them, or else I water them too much; the next thing I know my once beautiful green leafy plant is reduced to a brown crinkled stick.
Things are no better for the plants that live outside. Last year I decided to get serious about sprucing up the outside of my house with flowers. I went to the store and bought seeds. That was the fun part. Then I had to plant them. Which was less fun. I think I was supposed to water them . . . not sure if I did that . . . or if I was counting on it to rain. We live in Western Pennsylvania so there is always a very good chance of rain! Then I had to wait.
I hate waiting. I love to relax: sitting and reading my book; visiting with friends around a campfire; antiquing with my husband—those are all things I love! But that is a great deal different than waiting. I wondered why waiting bothered me so much when I have always loved the idea of making a special place to sit quietly and allow one’s mind to wonder. Then, I realized the key difference responsible for my distaste. I can’t control the situation when I am waiting.
Having planted my flowers, I pretty much left them on their own. I waited. I tried to keep them watered; I even put Miracle Grow into the water so they would get extra nutrients. I waited. My patience was rewarded when they grew! Well not all of them—some of them met an untimely end with a weed-eater; but others did live, and they grew, and they even had beautiful blossoms!
Oh how the physical world mirrors the spiritual! How many times do we impatiently tap our foot at God. We sigh at Him, all the while pretending that we are being patient. We don’t fool Him. He knows our hearts. We get all upset that He is not answering our prayer the way we want or as quickly as we want. Doesn’t He hear us? Maybe we can figure this out for ourselves! Oftentimes though, His answer is just around the corner if we would just be patient and trust Him.