They're Up and Growing!

Read: Genesis 8:22; Psalm 145:13; Isaiah 40:8

Yes, there they were. Right where they were last year. The tulips are coming up in spite of the very dry conditions that we are continuing to experience here. Once again, as God promised Noah after the flood, the seasons continue to follow each other, Genesis 8:22. It's spring! A season to be reminded that God decorates both the yards of those who love and acknowledge Him as well as the yards of those who have not yet turned their lives over to Him, with colorful flowers, Matthew 5:45. How great and gracious is our God.

Meanwhile, in our nation’s capital, it is the peak time for the beautiful cherry blossoms. Around the Tidal Basin, this yearly display is being enjoyed. The cherry blossoms are in bloom. More than 1,000,000 people come to enjoy the loveliness of their blossoms each year, and soon there will be more of these beauties. Thanks to Japan's birthday gift to the United States, 250 more cherry blossom trees will bloom displaying the awesomeness of God their Creator!

Spring reminds me that growth come in the time God has appointed. Tulips don't emerge in December or August because those months aren't their appointed time to pop out of the ground. Tomatoes don't produce fruit two days after they are planted. We know that in order to experience the fruit or flowers from any given plant, we must wait. Oh, how we don't like that. Our world is built for speed. We set things up with the hope that we will receive what we are waiting for in the shortest amount of time. God has a remedy for that. He often causes us to wait when it concerns His answering our prayers. He isn't AI. Spitting out answers right when we ask questions. He is Father and He is King. We have the privilege of approaching His throne with both boldness and humility because Jesus' death and resurrection have made access to the Lord possible, Hebrews 4:14-16. He is the Holy One Who does listen when we pray, Jeremiah 33:3; Psalm 77:1. Yet, He will not be rushed. His timing, even for the birth of Messiah, was perfect, Galatians 4:4; therefore, even though we often must wait for the unfolding of God's answers, we know that they will be made known to us in God's time and in God's way. A story of faithfulness drove this point home to me:

Several weeks ago, I heard a testimony given by a man concerning prayer walking. His adventure with God in prayer.   For more than a decade, he has been walking around his neighborhood. Once a week. Come rain or shine. He doesn't linger at houses; he simply prays a short prayer over each home. Asking the Lord to make Himself known to those inside. Or asking the Lord to open hearts of the neighbors who reside there. It was years before he began to see the Lord's hand at work and the fruit of his prayer walking. Let's let that sink in. Not days. Not weeks. Not even months, but years. He didn't give up. He simply got out and put one foot in front of the other and kept walking and praying. "Coincidences" began to slowly happen. A neighbor would be out in the driveway. Not looking very happy; so, he stopped to inquire. Could he pray with the one who looked sad? Yes, and he did. Right in the driveway. Little friendships were begun. The offer of prayer wasn't rejected. He is still doing this, and in God's timing, he is seeing God's work. Patience. No instant things have happened. Yet, the amazing providential hand of God has begun to move mountains. Mountains of indifference or maybe even mountains of unbelief.

I don't know why God often seems to move so slowly, but He frequently takes a circuitous path that we can't figure out. In 1 Corinthians 4:2, Paul reminds us that we are stewards of the gifts God has given us, and that it is required of stewards that we be found faithful. This prayer walker surely has demonstrated that kind of faithfulness.

Let's be reminded as we look at the flowers of spring that God has a timing for answering prayer. Let's ask the Lord to help us not to give up since He is faithful to keep every promise He has made, Psalm 145:13; 2 Peter 3:9. His promises will never fade like the beauty of the spring!

ISAIAH 40:8

“The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God endures forever.”