Corona Devo 472


As I sat on our porch this morning, I couldn't help but notice these berries poking their hard heads up at me.  Green and unripe, these firm berries-in-process look nothing like the sweet red ones that we will enjoy in a few Summer weeks.  Today they are in a developing stage.  It's the necessary timeline of a berry.  The blossom comes first and then the hard berry appears, and in due process, it will eventually soften and sweeten into the final product that God had in mind when He created the red raspberry.

But it takes time and today they are unripe.  

I've got a few "unripe" berry situations in my life today, how about you?  Are you waiting for confirmation on a big decision, but there is no direction yet?  Have you extended the olive branch of peace but it hasn't been accepted by the other party yet?  Trying to decide about college/the move/the job/homeschooling/flights/reconciliation/try-outs/fill-in-your-green-berry-situation.

If we are waiting for something to "ripen" in our life...it will.  But God has a process to all things, even us.  Today, in the wait, in the not-yet, in the hardness while we wait for the sweetness to be revealed--this in between spot is called faith. And God has purpose in the timeline and the process, namely--drawing us into Himself.

“The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him; it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.”  ~Lamentations 3:25-26

It may be good to wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord, but it sure is hard.  The in-between can be frustrating, depressing and exhausting, but the encouragement that God offers to keep us faithful, (even in the wait) is enough to keep us invested--He will be good to us: The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him (Lamentations 3:25).  

In the wait, as we seek direction and as we submit our will to His, He hears us:  I waited patiently for the Lord; he turned to me and heard my cry. (Psalm 40:1).  

We can cry out to the Lord.  He can take it, and He welcomes and wants us to be "real" with Him.  It's the only path to intimacy with another, and only honesty can pave that path.  

Lord, we lay it down to You today.  Whatever our hard, green berry situation is, we ask Your hand on the ripening and revealing of what comes next and on us during the ripening process.  Refresh us and revive our faith as we wait for the sweetness of the next stage.  Amen.

"But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint."  ~Isaiah 40:31

This in-between and indecision can't last forever, and You have purpose in your timeline. Renew (our) strength as we declare a renewal in our faith and Your timing.  

Because God's timing is perfect, but it is vastly different from ours.  We are conditioned to want it now but just as the berry begins as a blossom and then develops into a hard berry before a sweet berry burst completes the process, the same is true in our lives and decisions.  

If today we have a green and unripe berry poking it's hard head up at us, have faith.  There's questions, there's bitterness, and there's doubt, but because we have gone through other green-berry-situations before, there is also faith. We don't know God's outcome, but we have past experiences and Biblical truth as proof that He knows what He's doing, even if we are still in the unripe stage.

“Jesus replied, ‘You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand.’ ”  ~John 13:7

One day we will.  Hopefully one day soon, but in the meantime, we have faith.  I know that those green berries will turn red and juicy and sweet in time.  That's the process of a berry, and it's been "proven" to me before.  We also know that God has a process to the developments in our life and they are always linked to the development of our faith.  Resolution will come, or the acceptance of not-having-resolution will come.  The "choice" will become clear through prayer and submitting it to God.  We will gain clarity if we exercise faith.  This is the process God had in mind when He created us, just as the hard green berries sweetening into plump red ones are what God had in mind when He created the red raspberry.

"I wait for the LORD, my whole being waits, and in his word I put my hope."  ~Psalm 130:5


Blessings,

sarah

https://sarahsundy04.blogspot.com



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