Seeds Don’t Bloom Until They Fall Apart
Everything takes time.
You’ve heard it said, “everything takes time.” Everyone always seems to be in a season of waiting. Waiting for a phone call from a potential employer. Waiting for news of a successful surgery. Waiting for a loved one to recover, or not. Waiting for your child to have a breakthrough. Waiting on debt to be paid off. Waiting to hear back from an offer you made. Waiting for Friday, vacation, rest….we are always waiting.
If I could pinpoint the single most impactful lesson I’ve learned as an adult, it is this:
Everything takes time.
Moving slow is hard. Especially for a time in history where we can find a hurried solution for any problem.
Nick explains this concept well in our book, Love Fast Live Slow, chapter 1:
“We want everything yesterday. If there isn’t an express option, it’s ancient. The speed at which we expect life to happen for us is breakneck. We’ve created “express lanes” for driving on the expressway because our regular expressway is not fast enough. We put express lanes in grocery stores for those who have fewer items. We choose express delivery, express checkout, fast food mobile ordering for express pickup, and American Express cards to pay for our express choices.”
Aside from services we can expedite, we also want God to work on hyper speed. What happens when we try to push fast forward on God? Admit it, you’ve wanted to tell Him to put the pedal to the metal and get on with the show already. When we are obeying, listening, serving… and He asks us to wait a bit more…. who else grimaces?
Here is a fun expression I’m sure you’ve heard before:
Seeds do not bloom until they fall apart.
I’m no farmer but I know all the tilling, planting, watering and pulling of weeds takes time. It takes patience. It takes trusting the process will pay off. It takes trusting that whatever crop sprouts, it was meant to be. It may not be the biggest harvest of your lifetime, but your hard work producing fruit is satisfying.
I’m seeing this expression come true in many areas of my life. I had to fall apart before I could see the magnitude of my pride and greed. I had to fall apart before I surrendered to my call to be home with the kids. I had to fall apart before I admitted I needed to see a Christian counselor. I had to fall apart before I changed my unhealthy parenting habits. I had to fall apart before God gave me the courage and words to write a book.
When God starts a good work in you, He is faithful to complete it. Even if you have to wait.
“In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” Philippians 1:4-6, NIV
If you are falling apart, perhaps God is priming you for the most beautiful season to date. And since everything takes time, beautiful things take time.
If you are waiting for the seeds you’ve planted to blossom, wait some more. Then water them. Then pull the weeds that could choke them out. Then pray down some sunshine. Then wait some more.
I guarantee you that rushing God will get you no where.
A friend of mine sent this to me yesterday (talk about everything taking timing):
Jot these few quotes down:
- “You don’t have to be blooming to be growing.”
- “Long for Him more than productivity”
- “Growing season — filled with weeding, pruning, watering, cultivating. And not many blooms.”
This blurb is from a brand new book that was released yesterday called, “The Well-Watered Woman” by Gretchen Saffles.
That’s all for this week, my friends. My soul is refreshed each week knowing I get to share what I am learning with you. I am putting into practice (more and more) a life lived slow… and it makes me happier than ever.
We even revealed the name of our sailboat last week. You guessed it: Live Slow. Here she is <3
I’d love to hear from you, are you in a season of waiting? Are you feeling like you are falling apart?
Hold strong. Rest assured knowing God is not done with you.
xoxo
