I’ve been trying to write for a month now. But every time I sit down, my mind goes blank, my hands hover over the keyboard, and I sit staring into space, waiting…
I feel pressure to do something, ANYTHING but wait.
Waiting is hard for me.
I don’t know how to wait well. I guess sometimes I want a drive-through experience with God, but He wants a four-course dinner with candlelight. Now, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with taking God’s word in whenever you can, like snacking on the run.
But for a full experience, sometimes we have to wait.
To savor it.
To not feel the need to gobble and dash, but to sit, waiting quietly.
Waiting to experience God.
It’s so hard though. I understand that. If I can be totally honest, it’s 8:08am, and I can hear the kids clattering around in the kitchen. I know that if I don’t start the zucchini muffins within the next few minutes it will be 10:00 before I give the kids their breakfast.
But I’m still torn between sitting here, trying to wait on the Lord, and the million tasks I feel like I need to start. Lord, I want to hear You speak. I want Your peace to descend and fill me like hot-chocolate on a frosty winter’s day.
I need YOU Jesus.
But I need to DO.
And waiting is hard.
As I think about waiting, a memory comes back to me.
When I was younger, they planted Bradford pear trees on the property of our newly renovated church. Beautiful and fast-growing, these trees offered a quick solution for shading the bare front lawn from the southern summer heat.
But the hurried growth begat the trees’ eventual downfall.
Today, barely 20 years later, most of those trees are now dead and gone. But why did these trees have such a short lifespan?
An article written by Robert W. Lewis at https://homeguides.sfgate.com/life-expectancy-bradford-pear-86365.html says that the weighty upper branches of the Bradford pear tree combined with its quick development make this tree particularly prone to splitting and breaking. High winds, or heavy precipitation can cause this breakage, which leads to disease or insects attacking the tree. Because of this, the typical lifespan of the tree is only 15-25 years.
Contrast the Bradford Pear with the Oak tree.
An article at http://justfunfacts.com/interesting-facts-about-oak-trees/ says that the average lifespan of an oak tree is 200 years while a few are over one thousand years old. They are slow-growing trees whose large root systems anchor and stabilize the trunk and branches. It will take 20 to 50 years before an oak tree begins to bear acorns, and even though it may make up to 2,000 acorns a year, only 1 in 10,000 will eventually develop into another lasting tree. Oak wood is also highly prized for its strength and beauty, and is used in floors, furniture, and cabinets.
As I ponder these two trees, I feel God remind me of Isaiah 61:3b.
“that they may be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified”.
I think my heart is beginning to understand that even the waiting is important. My desire to grow in the Lord cannot be forced because the process is part of the journey. It is the slow, barely perceptible development of the oak tree, that gives it the strength to withstand the storms that will come.
So may the Lord plant me deeply.
May I be called an oak of righteousness.
Let it all be for the glory of God.
Lord, help me wait.
