{{item.title | uppercase}}

How are you at waiting? Be honest. Waiting for a gas pump to open up on the correct side as your tank. Perhaps waiting for life to “feel” normal again. Waiting can be hard because we are not in control. Gardening is a practice in waiting – waiting for the right time to plant, waiting for rain, waiting for growth.

I planted my first garden this year.

Some of you are shocked by that statement because your life has always revolved around a garden. Others might admit the same as me – never having grown one. Which ever camp you are in, I did find the garden analogy is very close to describing our grief at times.

We planted beans, tomatoes, melons, okra, and corn. We have had lots of rain since planting the garden, mostly light rain that is very helpful for growth. The rows are pretty straight and the fertilizer has been applied. Now comes the most difficult part – waiting.

But waiting for my garden to grow is NOTHING compared to waiting for the Chinese Bamboo Tree. The seeds are very hard and don’t do anything for about five years. Five years. Talk about waiting. There are no little sprouts popping up after several weeks. No fruit to feast on.

Nothing for five years.

But what happens after the five years? The bamboo grows eighty feet in five weeks! After appearing dead for five years, it suddenly sprouts to amazing heights!

Grief can be similar. We wait year after year to just “feel” better. The grief seems overwhelming month after month. Then suddenly, after some time, we realize we laughed and felt “normal” again. Or we suddenly feel the tug in our hearts to serve in some way at church again. Maybe we want to walk alongside a new widow and mentor her.

Each widow is different. You might be like the Chinese Bamboo Tree, waiting for healing but not seeing the growth you think should be seen. Maybe you are like my garden, where healing is experienced sooner. Is either one better or right? No. God made them both the way they are. Same with you. God might be working “underground” for several years until suddenly you sprout forth to amazing heights!

What should be our responsibility in this growth and healing? Just like in my garden, I have to do things to help it thrive. Watering. Weeding. Keeping out the varmints. Healing in grief is similar – there are things we can do to help. Stay in God’s Word. Spend time in prayer. Find a community that will spur our spiritual health on. There are certainly things out of our control but there are things we can do.

How’s your grief garden? Is it like the Chinese Bamboo Tree? Or is it more similar to my garden? Take some time today to reflect on your life.

So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.
2 Corinthians 4:16-18 (ESV)

Lord Jesus, thank You for Your loving care throughout our waiting period. Hold us in Your strong hands as we wait for our next season of healing and growth. Help us not lose heart as we seek You daily. Thank You for the eternal glories that will be ours after this life on earth is finished. Amen