“Just wait. Don’t do anything.”
The words were spoken by a true expert. I should trust her. I should do exactly what she said.
“Wait and see what happens. Don’t give up yet.”
Sometimes when we are in the middle of what feels like withering hope, what we really need to do is take a step back and wait. Sometimes we care too much, do too much, nurture too much—when what we really need to do is let all those good things take time to sink in and fertilize the situation. Sometimes good things just need a little more time before they produce fruit.
Such was the case with my garden last year. In an effort to produce the best veggies, I made the mistake of overwatering, over fertilizing and over nurturing my garden. Coupled with the fact that it was my first garden in southeast Texas, I made a few bad decisions. My intentions were good, but I began hurting my garden, more than helping.
I consulted a few experts and they all said the same thing.
“You’re doing too much. Let the garden rest.” So, I did.
And while it wasn’t the prettiest or most fruitful garden I have ever had; it did bounce back and produced plenty of good food. I just had to step back and get out of the way. I had to wait.
I’ve found this same thing true in parenting, ministry, writing and just about every other area of my life. Learning to wait is difficult. There have been many times I have jumped in and tried to fix things when in actuality, I just needed to step back and let God do the work he wanted to accomplish. He saw my efforts and he knew my heart, but my timing was off. In his time, he makes all things beautiful.
Is there something you need to trust God with? Are you doing, doing, doing, but really you just need to step back and let God handle things? He’s the master gardener. He can take what you’ve done, your efforts, your time, your talents and make something beautiful. Let him.
Ecclesiastes 3:11 says, "He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end."