COMMENTARYLook on the Bright Side: Patience Is a Virtue

Many of us have thoughtfully reflected upon what dreams and desires we would like to experience in this new year. It’s natural to desire positive change, but if you’re at all like me, you need to see immediate results if you’re going to stay the course. Yet my unwillingness to “patiently wait” has prevented many of my desires from coming to fruition.

When I was a little girl, I loved the flowers in my grandma’s garden. Their heady aroma would lure me into her backyard where I would sit and contentedly watch the fat bumblebees buzz around her peonies, daisies, and roses. 

One day, she told me I could cut a few to take home. I was so excited! She placed them in a vase with water and sent me on my way. The minute I got home, I took the vase out to the side of our house where there was a patch of mud and began to dig little holes. I was excited to have a garden of my own. Needless to say, I was deeply disappointed when my mom came out and explained that this process wasn’t going to work. She offered to help me plant seeds, but as soon as I learned I would have to wait a long time for the flowers to grow, I lost interest.

We can take our cue from nature in understanding the importance of patience. All life must go through a planting and gestation period. Seeds are planted in darkness, hidden under the soil or in the safety of a mother’s womb. Even the caterpillar must succumb to a time of silent darkness, wrapped in its chrysalis in order for its intended transformation to occur.

That seeming lack of inactivity can at times be discouraging. 

Evangelical speaker Christine  Caine once said, “Sometimes when you are in a dark place, you think you have been buried, when in fact you have been planted!” This quote has encouraged me to stay in the game.

Just as nature trusts the growing process, so must we. Our dreams are never buried but planted, protected, and nurtured. We must patiently wait for them to grow, trusting that they will see the light of day at the appointed time.