I am very happy in the midst of my busyness take care my baby boy and did the company tasks, this weekend I could back to gardening. With my husband I walked around the garden and enjoying each flower there. In the rose section, I found a beautiful red rosebud. I am so excited and amazed then I touched it softly and said to my husband, “I cannot wait to see this beautiful rose blooming. What happens if with my hand I open its petals so the rose will be unfolded?” “I don’t think so my dear princess. You cannot unfold the rosebud “My husband replied gently.”There is a time to the rose will unfold beautifully. If we force it the rose will be dead. My dear, Let God unfold this rosebud according His time. Not our time. When? We even do not know. So just be patient to wait, sweetheart”
My husband’s last words made me ponder something. Waiting and be patient. Two things that are often become serious problems in our life. These two things are closely related. When we must be waiting, it means we have to be patient. Whatever we wait, there must be an element of patience. For simple examples, when we were waiting for the queue to meet our doctor, we have to be patient. When we had to queue up buying cinema tickets, we also have to be patient. Or things that more important and serious in life such as a marriage couple waiting for their baby or we are waiting for the God’s help of our problems. It all needs patience. The problem is we often so hard to be patient in waiting. Moreover when we faced very big problems and hard time, it will be so difficult to waiting with full of patience.
At the one time, David once prayed like this, “Hasten, O God, to save me; come quickly, Lord, to help me.” (Psalm 70:1) Was not we often prayed like this too? We said, “God, please don’t let me waiting too long, help me quickly, I could not stand it anymore. Please let me free now!” I really realized that there is no one who wants to endure too long facing with the problems. However, we often feel that God’s answer and help is too long, even sometimes too late. Because impatience, we tend to trapped to the alternatives that promising help quickly though its options are contrary with God’s will. Actually, God’s plan is never bad for us. His plans are always beautiful. But one thing that we have to know is, Beautiful in His time. Not in our time. As it is written:
He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end. (Ecclesiastes 3:11)
But once again, the limitations of our ability to know and understand what God designed for us, make us cannot understand why God’s time is often not in line with our time. We even pushed God to work according to our time. We did not realize and forget that our time is not the same as God’s time. Apostle Paul said about this,
But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day.(2 Peter 3:8)
Let’s pay attention to an emphasis on the beginning of the verse above. “But do not forget this one thing” Why there should be this sentences? Because even though we are Christians we often failed to understand this thing. Impatience oftentimes becomes a stumble block to our faith. Tendency to impose God’s time in accordance with count of our time make us disappointed, grouchy, think that God does not care, does not remember or negligent. Then Peter reminds us again:
The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. (2 Peter 3:9)
Yes! Actually God never neglect. He never forgets to fulfill His promises. Yet we have to realize and really comprehend that God’s time is not the same as our time. I really know that it is not easy to be patient in the midst of hard pressure. But if God has been promise the best for us, we supposed to do not worry and fully trust that God will fulfill His promises. In the time of waiting we actually could experience the process of establishing ourselves in order to become a stronger person, more resilient, more mature and in the difficult time we can train ourselves to learn to rely on and fully trust to God.
My dear friends, what about us now? Whether we are waiting for something? Are we waiting for God’s healing our illness? Whether we are in a tussle of our unsolved problems and waiting for God’s help? Or we have been praying for many years to win the soul of our friend but there is no sign of the answer to our prayer? Whether we already have a great patience whatever we waiting for? Or otherwise, we are impatient waiting for God’s answer and help, and trying to look the alternative way that seemingly could help us quickly as I cannot wait to see my rose blooming and trying to unfold the rose with my own hand? My beloved readers, this time allow me to encourage all of us to once again remember these:
God’s plan is always good and beautiful for us. As it said in Jeremiah 29:11:
For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.
What will be happen in our lives is already in God’s plan list. We could make any plan but if it is not accordance to His plan, then our plan will would not work . And if so, it is not because our plan is not good but as we all know that,
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, “declares the Lord.
(Isaiah 55:8)
God has another better plan for us and as I have mentioned before, God’s plan is always good and beautiful more than our plan.
Remain be patient. Sometimes the desires of our heart need time. They do not happen overnight. Please do not treat God such as a vending machine when once we insert the coin, choose what we want, and then we can get what we want very soon. For how long we should be patient in waiting? 25 years like abraham was waiting for his child? More than 40 years like the Israelistes entering the promised land? More than 2 years like I was praying for my husband accept God as his personal savior? Same with my husband answer, we even do not know for how long. The timing of God’s answer is a mystery. Only God knows when the time our prayer would be answered. We do not have the ability to unveil the secrets of the Divine like the secret of unfolding my rose flowers. God’s timetable is not our timetable but He promises that everything will be beautiful in His time.
Patient endurance is what you need now, so that you will continue to do God’s will. Then you will receive all that he has promised. (Hebrews 10:36)
Keep trust to God. We have to trust that God will answer all of our requests, and we will not be waiting n vain. We have to trust that God is almighty who can do things seemingly impossible for us but all things are possible before God.
“With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” (Matthew 19:26)
Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight. (Proverb 3:5-6)
We have to trust in God for His leading and guidance in every of our step. As the rose flower, when the time comes, He will unfold the rose. And it will be holds true with our life, when the time comes He will fulfill His promises , will answer every of our prayers, and finally our long waiting and patience will be not in vain. Amen.
He Unfold the Rose
It is only a tiny rosebud,
A flower of God’s design;
But I cannot unfold the petals
With these clumsy hands of mine.
The secret of unfolding flowers
Is not known to such as I.
GOD opens this flower so sweetly,
When in my hands they fade and die.
If I cannot unfold a rosebud,
This flower of God’s design,
Then how can I think I have wisdom
To unfold this life of mine?
So I’ll trust in Him for His leading
each moment of every day.
I will look to him for His guidance
each step of the pilgrim way.
The pathway that lies before me,
Only my Heavenly Father knows.
I’ll trust Him to unfold the moments,
Just as He unfolds the rose.
Poem author: Colleen Douglas
Karina – Living by faith
Photo by http://photopaulm.com
Karina's Thought 