Hurry Up and Wait

There are those moments when you are offering your children pearls of wisdom and all you can think is…”are you listening to yourself?” Back to the woods for today’s thought, waiting…

I’m writing this on my phone today because I am waiting. The internet so bogged down that typing with one finger on my phone is the appealing option. Today’s thought revolves around these small thumb to baseball diameter Maples hanging out in the shade of my forest. Seed has been cast far and wide from the larger specimen. My forestry friend says these small maples can hang out in the shade indefinitely. In fact they have run tests in areas and found some of these little guys to be 50-80 years old, waiting…

Patiently growing a root system, an underground storage unit waiting. Waiting for the day that one of these popple trees would fall over from the storm of life it’s not equipped to handle. And a flush of light would pour down life and there would be a lifeline of faith becoming sight.

Not all trees are equipped for waiting. Some trees are known as “Pioneer Species”, they need full sun from day one. I have some baby oaks sprouting from some acorns trying to live in the shade. They grow leaves almost twice as big as normal in an attempt to catch some light and feed themselves. Their days are numbered in the shade and like youth, will grow tired and weary unless the circumstance changes.

I love the ability (God ordained ability) of those maples to adapt and wait. There is something right about learning how to grow wherever you are planted, ideal location or not. For us there are moments when growing conditions aren’t ideal, but the thing we learn from these maples is that our root system is what gives us capacity in the future to become.

We find an explanation of that in Psalms 1. Chosen to be the first psalm as it sets the focus of the rest of this book of wisdom.

“Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way sinners take or sit in the company of mockers, but whose delight is in the Lord, who meditates on his law day and night. That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither-whatever they do prospers.”

These verses offer us the insight as to the shade free thing we can control, but sometimes we find ourselves in the shade for other reasons. If that is the case, hurry up and wait. Waiting is a great instruction for our children, I’m guessing it’s good for us as well. We are in a moment of waiting, just make sure your roots sink deep into knowing God cares and God provides, oh… and wait. Don’t let your confidence be shaken in the waitin’!

I remain confident of this:
I will see the goodness of the Lord
in the land of the living.
Wait for the Lord;
be strong and take heart
and wait for the Lord. Psalm 27:13-14