A few weeks ago, I was ready to pull this plant out of our flower bed. It clearly wasn’t a Marigold, which I thought were the seeds I had planted back in spring.
Once the plant started growing, I wondered did these seeds get mixed up? It was looking more like a cucumber plant than marigolds. As the plant grew, I was curious about what the plant was. So, instead of pulling it out, I decided to wait to see what it would produce.
After months of the plant getting uglier, I noticed it started to wrap around my daughter’s bike.
It reminded me of the plant in Jumanji. You know that scene where this terrifying vine appears out of nowhere, wraps around the boy’s leg, and drags him across the floor? Yea, that’s how fast it felt like this vine was growing.
“This is getting ridiculous” I thought to myself.
I was tired of waiting, ready to pull out the roots.
Have you ever been there? Tired of waiting on something you thought should’ve happened by now.
We want things on our schedule, but God has a different timeline.
But if we hope for what we do not have, we wait for it patiently. Romans 8:25
Being patient is definitely a trait I lack… I strive for patience, but the moment my kids can’t find their shoes, and I’ve told them at least 4 times we need to leave, patience takes a back seat!
What about the prayers you have been waiting on for years, and no answer?
Praying to start a family,
Praying to get a job,
Praying that relative gets over their addiction,
Praying for your mental health to get better,
Praying for your marriage to get better,
Praying, and hearing silence, ready to quit.
The day I was going to pull out the plant, I noticed a small flower blooming. It wasn’t a marigold, but instead, some type of flowering vine.
“That’s just like God,” I thought. The minute you want to give up, and throw in the towel, God answers. Sometimes he doesn’t answer exactly how you wanted, but most of the time it’s an even better blessing!
If you have been praying the same prayer for years, DO NOT GIVE UP. Your miracle could be ready to bloom at any moment!
It’s easy to ask,
“Why God? Why is this taking so long?!”
I can’t answer why. I do know that God knows things we don’t about our situation, and maybe things need to align just right, or we may end up getting hurt instead. I also know the waiting builds strength, patience, faith, and our reliance on God.
We have to trust his timing and be in alignment with his perfect will.
Jesus’ prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane (Matthew 26:39) illustrates this when he prayed, “Yet not as I will, but as you will.”
Sometimes your marigold prayers are answered with gorgeous, flowery vines.
This week, instead of thinking of the prayer that hasn’t been answered, mediate on all of the answered ones.
He is faithful, and he can be trusted.
