barren no more

When we first moved in to our home nearly 3 years ago, there was this skinny, twiggy little tree in our front garden walkway. We weren't sure what it was and it looked pretty hopeless, but we tried pruning it and caring for it to no avail. Besides a green leaf or two every spring to convince us it was still alive, we saw no other signs of abundant living in our little tree. We considered removing it, but weren't quite ready to give up hope. Well this spring, we saw life!!! Beautiful white blossoms started blooming along the twiggy branches!

There are times in my life that have been harder than others. There have been circumstances when I have not been able to see the ways that God is producing fruit in me... times that I feel all He is doing is pruning, pruning, pruning. How unbelievably grateful I am for the times that He reveals the purpose of His pruning in my life... and I am able to blossom in His will for me.

WAIT

Desperately, helplessly, longingly I cried
Quietly, patiently, lovingly God replied.
I pled and I wept for a clue of my fate,
And the Master so gently said, 'Child, you must wait.'

'Wait? You say wait?' my indignant reply.
'Lord, I need answers, I need to know why!
Is your hand shortened, or have you not heard?
By faith I have asked and am claiming your Word!
My future and all to which I can relate,
Hangs in the balance and you tell me to wait?
I'm needing a 'yes', a go-ahead sign,
Or even a 'no' to which I can resign.
And, Lord, I've been asking and this is my cry:
I'm weary of asking, I need a reply!'

Then quietly, softly I learned of my fate
As my Master replied once again, 'You must wait.'
So I slumped in my chair, defeated and taut
and grumbled to God, 'So I'm waiting, for what?'

He seemed then to kneel, His eyes wept with mine.
He tenderly said, 'I could give you a sign.
I could shake the heavens and darken the sun,
I could raise the dead and cause mountains to run.
All you seek, I could give, and pleased you would be.
You would have all you want, but you wouldn't know Me.

You'd not know the depth of My love for each saint;
You'd not know the power that I give to the faint;
You'd not learn to see through the clouds of despair;
You'd not learn to trust just by knowing I'm there;
You'd not know the joy of resting in Me,
When darkness and silence were all you could see.

You'd never experience the fullness of love
As the peace of my spirit descends like a dove;
You'd know that I give and I save... for a start,
But you'd not know the depth of the beat of my heart.
The glow of my comfort late into the night,
The faith that I give when you walk without sight,
The depth that's beyond getting just what you've asked,
Of an infinite God, who makes what you have last.

You'd never know, should your pain quickly flee,
What it means that 'My grace is sufficient for thee.'
Yes your dreams for a loved one overnight could come true,
But, oh, the loss if I lost what I'm doing in you!
So be silent, my child, and in time you will see
That the greatest of gifts is to get to know me.
And though oft' may my answers seem terribly late,
My most precious answer of all is still, 'Wait.'

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