Have you planted flowers or a garden this year? If so, I hope your investment hasn’t been devastated by the torrential storms we’ve had. I lost any interest I had in gardening years ago, but I remember a time when things were different. I planted carefully, watered, and weeded … and waited. One of the hardest parts is waiting.
“See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?” (Isaiah 43:19)
For days, it looks like absolutely nothing is happening. But below the surface, something is. Roots are reaching downward long before leaves reach upward.
That seems to be one of God’s favorite ways of working.
We pray for visible progress; God is more interested in hidden growth.
Spiritually, long periods of life can feel like long seasons of “nothing is happening.” Our prayers seem to echo. Our routines feel ordinary. We wonder whether we’re making any progress or any difference at all.
Yet Scripture tells a different story. Moses spent years tending sheep before leading a nation. David spent years in lonely fields looking after sheep before wearing a crown. Jesus spent thirty quiet years doing we don’t know what before three years of public ministry.
And yet, none of those hidden seasons were wasted. God was growing roots.
We like immediate results. If we start going to the gym or dieting, we want visible results in days. We like before-and-after photos, overnight successes, and instant updates. If Amazon could deliver spiritual growth and maturity by tomorrow afternoon, many of us would add it to our carts and click “Buy Now.” Maybe it could even be a Prime Day deal!
Instead, God usually chooses slower methods. Daily prayer. Small acts of kindness. Study. Worship. Quiet trust.
They aren’t flashy, and they don’t make headlines, but they are how God often does God’s “new thing” in us.
So if this season of your life feels ordinary, don’t think that God has forgotten you. God simply may be doing His deepest work where you can’t see it yet. After all, roots have always been more important than applause.
Prayer: God, thank you for working in ways I can’t always see. When I grow discouraged by slow progress or long seasons, help me trust that you are forming me for your purposes. Give me the patience to grow deep roots of faith, knowing that in your time, you will do your new thing in me, and it will be worth the wait. Amen.
