Patient Flowers

      This is the first year I have planted flowers in a mountain climate.  Boy did I start too early!  I planted about the third week in May.  We got snow and wind around Memorial Day.  Needless to say, the flowers did not enjoy the snow treatment.  The were shriveled and sad.  I even covered them to get them through the unpredictable weather.  Once the surprise winter was over, I cut them way back.  I turned them daily. I  gave them fertilizer and lots of water. Truth be told, I also spoke words of encouragement to them. Why not? It can't hurt.   For a long time nothing happened, then two weeks ago,  I looked outside and a remarkable thing had occurred:  They bloomed and they bloomed bigger then the first time. 
     Pastor Scott Fine at Mountain Life Church spoke on Psalm forty this week.   In this psalm David cries out to the Lord saying, " I waited patiently for the Lord; he turned to me and heard my cry; He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand."  Pastor Fine took the entire psalm and showed how it illustrates God's response to our call.  He does not ignore us, he turns toward us, he lifts us up, he gives us a firm footing, he puts a new song in our hearts AND "Many will see and fear and put their trust in the Lord."  When things seem stationary and dead in our lives there is actually a lot going on. The pastor noted that God uses trying circumstances to teach us AND those around us lessons that we would not otherwise be open to learn.  The part of this that tests our faith is timing. God's timing is not our timing.
     I see a metaphor here with my plants.  They were not dead, but regrouping, regenerating.  Was it a pretty process? No. However, there was growth going on beneath the surface that the eye could not see.  So it is with us.  If we wait upon the Lord, if we accept the lessons along our journey, our blooms will be more vibrant and fuller than we ever imagined.  This is not easy to accept, but it is true. Wait, then, bloom.