“Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him; do not fret because of him who prospers in his way, because of the man who brings wicked schemes to pass” (Psalm 37:7).
Do you know what kind of tree these pictures show? They’re hemlock trees. There are several kinds of hemlock trees, and they grow in North America as well as in eastern Asia. We know that plants need light to live and grow. If a plant does not get enough light, it will die. But not all plants need the same amount of light. Some can live with a lot less light than others, at least for a while.
Did you know that there is something very special about a hemlock tree? When it is small, it can grow for a long time without having very much light at all. But it won’t grow very fast. A hemlock seedling growing in a very shady place might take fifty years to grow to be just three and a half inches high.
But if some of the large trees nearby die or get blown down in a windstorm, the hemlock seedling suddenly gets a lot more light, and now it can grow a lot faster. Under ideal conditions, a hemlock can grow anywhere from one to four feet a year.
The hemlock tree doesn’t complain if it has to wait for a long time before it can start growing fast. It patiently waits -- always ready to grow very quickly as soon as it has a chance.
The Bible tells us about someone who had to wait a long time, too. Joseph, even though he made all the right choices, ended up in jail because of a false accusation. But he didn’t complain; he kept patiently waiting for God to work everything out. Finally his patience was rewarded, and in a very short time he went from being a prisoner in the dungeon to being the second-most powerful man in all of Egypt.
Are you willing to wait? Are you willing to be patient for a long time -- perhaps for many years -- until God works everything out in the best way for your life? Often God’s timing is very different from ours, but we can always be sure that He loves us and cares for us, and will do what is best.
--This article provided by: My Bible First.
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