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Plenty of Waiting

It’s hard to see anything in the waiting, isn’t it? Until we learn to look for God’s provision …even there.

Elisa


Plenty of Waiting

By Beth K. Vogt


Springtime in the Rockies means traces of winter linger well into May, causing flowers and trees to bloom later in Colorado than in other areas of the country.


Every year, there’s a dance of waiting between me and my peonies. I want a quickstep of blossoming. The lone bush of peonies in front of my house? They offer a slow waltz with nature. The tightly closed buds nestled among green leaves sway in the breeze, providing the merest hint of the blush pink petals hidden inside.


I can’t force my peonies to appear. Each morning, I slip outside with my camera, ready to capture the first open bloom. Day after day, I’m greeted with slightest difference from the day before.


For too many months, my life reflects that of a slow-to-change peony. I glance back over my shoulder, looking for the smallest indication of transformation. Hardship lingers, fraying the edges of my soul. Will this season of estrangement that breaks my heart open like parched, crumbled soil produce anything worthwhile?


My footsteps forward falter as I search for some sign of God’s goodness in all of this.


There is plenty.


Plenty of silence.


Plenty of tears.


Plenty of prayers threaded through with whispered pleading scratched out across the pages of my journal.


I hope for answers as eagerly as I anticipate the first budding of my peonies.


And I wait. And I wait. And I wait.


“For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence, for my hope is from him.” (Psalm 62:5 ESV)


The beauty in the waiting is in the realization perseverance produces the oh-so-slow adjustment of my will to God’s. The bending of my “It must be this way” determination until I trust God is doing something even when I see no change. While I still face silence and heartbreak and yes, no end in sight, fragile hope woven with faith holds me steady.


And in this hope-filled steadiness, in the waiting, there is strength for today.


And that is enough. In fact, it is plenty.


The peony bud pictured above is from Beth's garden and it did finally bloom!


Beth K. Vogt believes God’s best often waits behind the doors marked “Never.” She has two short novels releasing in 2023 - Dedicated to the One I Love releases in June 2023. She’s authored 14 novels and novellas, both romance and women’s fiction. Beth is a Christy Award winner, an ACFW Carol Award winner, and a RITA® finalist. Her novel Things I Never Told You, book one in her Thatcher Sisters Series by Tyndale House Publishers, won the 2109 AWSA Golden Scroll Award for Contemporary Novel of the Year. An established magazine writer and former editor of the leadership magazine for MOPS International, Beth blogs for Learn How to Write a Novel and The Write Conversation and also enjoys speaking to writers’ groups and mentoring other writers. She lives in Colorado with her husband Rob, who has adjusted to discussing the lives of imaginary people. Connect with Beth at bethvogt.com.



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