Waiting | Agricultural Grace

Week Four: Waiting is part of our story as people of God.

Agricultural Grace | A 5-Week Series

The image of a garden– sowing, planting, and nurturing seeds gives us a way to reflect on our own spiritual growth and the ways that grace shows up in our lives. Sometimes we need to be reminded that not everything is a quick fix. Growth takes time. Grace transforms. We plant seeds and wait with the truth that God is always with us.

Waiting

Romans 8:18-25 (CEB)

¹⁸ I believe that the present suffering is nothing compared to the coming glory that is going to be revealed to us. ¹⁹ The whole creation waits breathless with anticipation for the revelation of God’s sons and daughters.²⁰ Creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice—it was the choice of the one who subjected it—but in the hope ²¹ that the creation itself will be set free from slavery to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of God’s children. ²² We know that the whole creation is groaning together and suffering labor pains up until now. ²³ And it’s not only the creation. We ourselves who have the Spirit as the first crop of the harvest also groan inside as we wait to be adopted and for our bodies to be set free. ²⁴ We were saved in hope. If we see what we hope for, that isn’t hope. Who hopes for what they already see? ²⁵ But if we hope for what we don’t see, we wait for it with patience.

Over the last few weeks, we’ve been working with this metaphor of planting as an image for our faith. We have the seeds of possibility. We talked about how they germinate with the promise of good news and resurrection. We’ve scattered those seeds anywhere and everywhere, as a reminder that God’s love is for all people. Last week we talked about what it means to nurture these seeds by cultivating spiritual practices. We were reminded of God’s desire to be in a relationship with God’s people, and how God will show up to replant us by streams of living water over and over again. All we have to do is ask. 

We’ve done a lot of work these last few weeks. We’ve dug in the soil. Our hands are dirty. The sun has beat down; we’ve pulled up weeds and got out our watering pails. Now what? 

Well, now— we wait. Today we’re going to talk about the waiting. 

Waiting can be… awkward. It can be uncomfortable. It can be frustrating. We are not patient people. Y’all, we have drive-thru restaurants because we don’t want to wait for our food. Heaven forbid the person in front of us doesn’t start driving the millisecond the light turns green. Watching TV has completely changed with streaming, we don’t wait for the next episode or even through commercials. Standard shipping isn’t even fast enough these days. We need a 2-day guarantee with Amazon prime.

Photo by Eutah Mizushima on Unsplash

We live in an impatient world. We are impatient people. Waiting is often seen as an inconvenience – something to get through. 

And then I think about this image of planting and harvest.