Wait

The Popcorn Problem

One of my favorite things to do is watch movies with my son—sit on the couch on a rainy afternoon and just enjoy a film together. And the one thing you need to make movies special is popcorn.

Now, we're not all that old fashioned, so we just make it in the microwave, which is pretty quick. You put it in, cook it for about three minutes, and it comes out beautifully. But I have to say, it's a little trickier than that. You're supposed to wait until you hear all the popping stop for a couple of seconds. Pop, pop, pop—and when you leave a couple of seconds between pops, then you know it's done.

But I get so excited and eager to watch the movie and eat my popcorn that I jump in too soon. I hear a little gap, and I jump in. So my popcorn is nice and hot and popped, but by the time I get to the bottom of the bag, there are just these unpopped kernels. It makes me sad because I did it really quickly, but I missed a lot of the good popcorn I could have had.

A Story About Gardening

Today, Jesus tells us a story about gardening. A man plants some beautiful wheat, ready to make some delicious fresh bread, but then someone comes in and sneaks a bunch of weeds into the garden. For people who farm and grow food for a living, this is a pretty horrible thing to do. And the people who work on the farm want to get in there and pull the weeds up right away.

But Jesus says that the farmer is more patient than that. He tells them to wait. If they pluck up too soon, they may get the weeds, but they may accidentally pull up some of the good wheat as well—wheat that hasn't had time to grow. Jesus hates the idea of good wheat being pulled up before it's had time to grow.

God Sees Who You Are Becoming

Jesus is talking about us. God is patient with us. He longs to see us fill our full potential.

Perhaps you haven't fully grown yet. This is true for children, but it's also true for adults as well. God knows not just who we are, but who we are becoming.

And so God is patient with us. He can't wait to see you make some mistakes and make some decisions and take some risks and step out and grow. He cannot wait to see how you and I turn out.

Just keep trusting him, and you'll see that you keep on growing. He can't wait to see who you become.

Blessings, and have a great week.