Endure the wait...it'll be worth it.

For those of you who know me, patience is one thing I’m short on.  I don’t like to wait, especially if it involves something I really want to do or something I really want done.  I want to do it now or I want it done now.  Not ten minutes from now or six months from now, I want it now. 

I’m finding, as I get older, that patience is something that you must have because we’re constantly waiting on something, the cashier at the checkout stand, the waiter at a restaurant, the kids to get in the car, wait, wait wait is all we seem to do.  So patience is something that we’ve either got to use or we learn to develop it so we can use it. 

Now, just this weekend I was sitting in a seminar, listening to a speaker discuss his life and how he’s had to WAIT on things to take place over a period of time in his life.  He said that after a certain amount of time things begin to change, and now he feels that his life is full and complete.  When he said that it hit me like a ton of bricks; he had to wait over time.  Then the thought hit me; like waiting for a flower to bloom.  You don’t see the beauty in the flower until it’s fully bloomed.

Have you ever watched a rose bud as it turned into a beautiful, fully bloomed rose?  It’s not a pretty thing at first; it’s a green knob looking thing on the end of a stick.  Over a few days that knob begins to take on the form of an upside down diamond, with green leaves holding onto a green bulb.  Over the next few days, the leaves give way and the bulb begins to open and you can see the red pedals as they begin to open up.  A few days later there’s an opened red flower that isn’t quit fully developed, but it’s on its way.  Then finally, a few more days later when you look at that flower, there at the end of that green stick is a fully developed, red rose.  Oh the beauty it holds and the aroma it produces.  But it didn’t happen overnight, it took time.

We are just like that flower.  We develop over time.  The trials we face, the heartache we endure, the disappointment of others it’s all for our good, its part of the blooming process.  It’s a painful thing for us to go through, but once we’ve made it through, oh the beauty we are able to share.  Maybe it’s a financial battle, an addiction, a marital problem or something far worse.  Maybe it’s everything I just mentioned, but whatever it might be, it requires you to have patience.  And when you allow God to give you the patience you need to walk through that valley of the SHADOW of death, you can fear no evil because you know that at the end of that circumstance, God will have unfolded a rose…You.  Remember, He said He would never put more on us than what we could bare. 

Here’s a prayer I’ve prayed recently.  God, I’m asking You to give me the strength that I need to carry the load You’ve given me to carry, the courage to face my fears, the stamina to endure my battles and the direction in which to walk through the valleys that I must walk.   Help me to understand that although I don’t understand some of the issues I face, that over time I’ll see that the trials, the heartaches, the issues were all part of the unfolding.  God I know that You have a plan for my life and that there are things You’re working on in me.  I know that there are issues that must be resolved, and attitudes that must be changed, but in the end; when everything is said and done, I’ll be the beautiful, fully developed, sweet smelling, red rose You intended me to be.

Like the song says, “When God unfolds a rose He always gets it right.  When the petals are in place oh, it’s a beautiful sight.  God knows when to hold on and the perfect time to let go.  So let Him have his way and watch God unfold the rose”.

Becoming a rose takes time….just wait, you’ll be one….in time.

Just a thought on a page.

“When God Unfolds a Rose” by Frank O'brien

There have been times when I thought my prayers
Didn’t even reach the ceiling of the room
Where I knelt to pray
And a voice inside kept asking me
Did I think God was really listening
To anything I had to say
I just kept on a praying
And holding on by faith
Knowing God is always in control
And I waited like a rose bud in the garden
Only God can unfold a rose

When God unfolds a rose
He always gets it right
When the petals are in place
Oh, it’s such a beautiful sight
God knows when to hold on
And the perfect time to let go
So let Him have his way
And watch God unfold the rose

There are trials and tribulations
We must all go through
When it comes to heartache
We’ve all had our share
Oh, but when times are the hardest
We need to hold on to the promise
He said He’d never give us more than we could bear
So I’ll just keep on a praying
And holding on by faith
Knowing God is working for my good
And I’ll wait just like a rose bud in the garden
Cause only God can unfold a rose