When you plant a seed, it can take weeks before you see a little green shoot pushing through the soil. It stays in the ground until the time is right for it to emerge. If it’s too early or late, the conditions aren’t right and the young plant will struggle or fail. It’s the same with our God-given skills, dreams and visions. God’s planted certain things within each of us, and we have to wait for them to take root and grow. With God, a delay isn’t a denial. When Job was in despair, his friend Elihu said, ‘It is wrong to say God doesn’t listen, to say the Almighty isn’t concerned. You say you can’t see Him, but He will bring justice if you will only wait’ (vv. 13-14 NLT). Author Charles Trumbull said, ‘God knows when to withhold or grant visible signs of encouragement. It’s good when He sends confirmation, but we grow faster when we’ve trusted Him without it. Those who do, always receive the greatest visible evidence of His love.’ God answers every prayer; it’s just that sometimes His answer is ‘Not yet, the time isn’t right’. Waiting is frustrating, and it usually feels uncomfortable. But that time of waiting is a time of preparation and growth below the surface, just like a seed. And if we’re willing to trust God and wait while He works within us, eventually our prayers become less about getting answers and more about connecting with Him. By letting Him work: 1) we begin to realise that He’s always with us; 2) we develop a deeper level of intimacy with Him; 3) we discover we can trust Him for the entire journey.
