Daffodils Make Great Teachers
Daffodils are one of my all-time favorite flower. The delicacy of the petals, the trumpet centers, the varying colors, the hints of Spring when they bloom—I’ve been enamored with them for decades.
Two years ago, I planted over 150 bulbs in my yard. It was backbreaking, to say the least! I lined a grass area with hopes that the flowers would border, and beautify, the space. I haven’t been let down. Last year, when they finally popped their little heads up out of the ground, months after planting, my excitement was through the roof! This year, they've returned again (with little work on my part). The plants look even thicker; more shoots, more blooms at the ready. And then one opened up the other day. My heart absolutely melted. The calendar may not be saying Spring, but the daffodils seem to be.
A few weeks back, I posted a short video on Instagram about my winter garden and waiting on the Lord (Psalm 27:14). I encouraged us to lean into those words of waiting when we see nothing happening, and know something surely is. It was a reminder, that just because we don’t see the shoots of what we’ve planted, doesn’t mean they aren’t growing in the soil we’ve prepared.
And my new-budding daffodils reminded me of that once again. And I hope you, too.
Friends, we can sit in so much discouragement because our prayers aren’t being answered, the way we are expecting. That things aren’t getting changed, the way we are expecting. That blessings aren’t coming our way, the way we are expecting.
But who’s to say they aren’t? or won’t? Just because we can’t see the answers now, should never mean we can’t believe they won’t come later.
I planted those bulbs understanding and knowing that the fruits of my labor would not be seen for months—many months. To expect immediate results would have been foolish on my part. Should we be any different with the life-struggles we hand over to our God? We are told:
“Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.” 1Peter 5:7 NIV
Well, then, why don’t we? All anxiety means just that—ALL—not just the problem at hand, but also the waiting that follows. Anyone else, like me, need that constant reminder?
SoultoSeed ministry is rooted in the waiting on the Lord. If gardening can teach anything, it is the patience that echoes our faith. What is to come to harvest, must always start with the sowing of belief. And for the most impatient woman in the world, I have had more lessons in that very flaw, than I can count for.
If there is anything we can learn from the daffodil bulbs, it is their full process of growth:
-They have to go through the harshness of the winter colds, in order to bloom in the gentleness of Spring.
-They have to be in the soils that seem barren to others, but are rich for their needs.
-They have to do their work below the surface in order to showcase their beauty in the open.
If you are sitting in what seems like the barrenness of a problem, take heart in knowing the fertileness of a solution is happening. Hang on to that! Much may feel lost. Much may feel dark and absent. Much may feel empty and without purpose. All of it may feel that way, because at every turn there seems nothing is happening on the surface—no budging, no growing, no fruits—but that simply isn’t the whole story. Trust in the process of trusting our Lord. Because the answers we are looking for from our prayers, may come more in the patience of the waiting.
God is working. Our problems are not forgotten before Him. We must trust and know this with our very being. He is working out our best plans, just as those little daffodil bulbs do—doing their best work, hidden away and out of view. The mightiness of it all, to spring forth the plant, and eventually the beauty of the bloom, can be one of the best teachers of our faith there can be. The timely and perfect flowers are our mirror to the blessings that patience will give, through the waiting of the Lord. Cast ALL your anxieties upon Him friend--then wait. His timing is much better than ours will ever be. Let the small, but mighty, daffodil be an example to us in the seasons of waiting.