Slow Change

 

As I write this post, I am sitting on our deck enjoying the most perfect fall day.  The sun is shining in between the clouds, the air is fresh, a just-picked apple by my side, and the trees are starting to turn.  I do not know if it is due to the fact that I am paying closer attention this year than others, but it seems as if the leaves are truly taking their time.  I am enjoying every minute of it!  As I look at the leaves, they are starting to turn on the edges of the trees, making their way back to the trunk.  Slowly, as each day passes, another set of leaves begins this amazing process, as more of the tree becomes colored in the beauty of fall.  Although I cannot wait for the tree to be engulfed in color, the process of the change is just as beautiful. 

So often, when we offer up prayers to Jesus for something to change, we believe he is not reacting quick enough.  “Where is my answer?  Aren’t you listening to me?  I am not asking a lot, just help me already!”  Whether we have said these phrases aloud or kept them to ourselves, there have been times when the change that we are looking for seems to be coming too slowly.  Our goal to establish our timeline to God’s timeline is one that will never be achieved.  God, knowing our past, present and future, knows the right time to provide us with answers to our prayers, provide us the changes we want to see.  It is in HIS time, not our time.  The waiting can be arduous.  Yet, something happens in the waiting!

In the waiting for leaves to change colors, the miracle of the fall season continues.  It is in our waiting for prayers to be answered that the miracle of our changing season occurs.  It is during this time that the waiting brings us closer to God and the faith in Him that he so desperately wants for us.  As we wait, we pray.  As we wait, we change from a quick fix to a faith that God will give us what we need when we need it.  It is always AFTER the prayer is answered and we reflect upon that waiting period that we realize the growth in faith we gained.  The waiting may have helped us to be more patient, more reliant, more hopeful, and certainly more thankful.

Slowly changing, whether it is the leaves or us, brings beauty.  Think about the beauty in the waiting.  When life changes slowly it helps us to appreciate the end result even more.  Much like today’s verse, in our waiting for Jesus to return, we can see the beauty of how our faith can be strengthened.  As we enter this fall season, and we wait for the beauty of the leaves, may we also see the beauty in the waiting!  May our faith grow in Jesus as we wait for him to arrive in the heavens one day.  It will all happen; we just need to have Simple Faith.

Heavenly Father, we know that everything happens in YOUR time.  Help us to be patient and watch all the goodness that happens in the waiting.  In your ever-present name we pray, Amen!