FEELING SAD

Wait patiently for the LORD. Be brave

and courageous. Yes, wait patiently

for the LORD. -- Psalm 27:14, NLT

For the last couple of days I'd been composing a post in my mind about finding hope in unexpected places. Ever since I saw a little bit of green in the midst of what I thought was a very dead lantana plant I had tried to propagate in a pot on my balcony.

I so wanted that to be a miracle in the making that the next time I went out to check on it and smelled the strong sweet aroma that attracts butterflies and bees, I was convinced this was a God wink. Maybe it would have been had I left good enough alone. 

It was a really hot day, the soil was still moist, and there was rain in the forecast, but instead of trusting God to care for my lantana plant just as he cares for the thriving lantana jungle growing outside the front door to my building, I watered it anyway. Big mistake!

Two days later when I went to check on it again, there was no more aroma. This time the plant really was dead. The water that filled the dish under the pot gave evidence that I had drowned it. 

I felt devastated, and as I pondered what to change the title of my post to--Feeling Sad, or Slow Learner--a memory came to mind of a long time ago when the Lord had wanted to bless me (I thought) in a way that would have been so amazing and unexpected I was already rehearsing the testimony in my mind. But things weren't moving along as fast or as smoothly as I had thought they would and so I tried to help God along (as though He needed my help) by manipulating circumstances to try and rush things along instead of waiting on His timing. As a result, it all fell through, my life was turned upside down, and I lost the blessing I thought was to be mine, plus a whole lot more.

In the end, it all worked out for good, and though I didn't get the testimony I wanted to have, maybe the Lord allowed things to happen the way they did because He had something quite different in mind than what I was expecting. Something that, in the long run, was a much better plan.

When will I ever learn to just trust Him and go with the flow instead of trying to second-guess what He is up to and force an outcome I don't even know for sure is actually part of His plan?