There’s something about the way a rider holds back the reins of his horse before a jump that makes me marvel at the beautiful mystery of our Father’s way. The limitation we may see in our present is really a step of preparation to conquer the future mountain in front of us.
Winter leads into spring, just as summer slides into the chill of autumn. There is preparation, waiting, and churning that needs to take place in the soil before the seeds are sown and nurtured to grow. Sometimes we are called into seasons of trusting in the midst of things we don’t understand because He is stirring up something inside us for the next period of growth and harvest.
The path set before us really is a maze—one on which we often have no idea where we are going. Some things we are never meant to know, never meant to understand. The storms, the pains, the brokenness of our life all seem so unnecessary in our current moments. Yet, when we step back and realize how they have fashioned and molded our hearts to be more like His, we realize that our Father was there the whole time—He really is after our hearts.
The road gets hard, but we have to stand in faith knowing that His way and plan for our lives is higher than ours. Though it's difficult to wait in the longing for resolution, we have to remember that if He just gave us everything we desired, we would know HIs greatness and generosity, but we would miss the depth of His heart—the grace and love that is so passionately fashioning us to be beyond what we can even imagine. Psalm 25 says that He guides us with love and faithfulness. Faith is not by sight or understanding of our path; it’s knowing His voice through the midst of the mayhem.
For in the storm’s fury and the clamor of many voices around us, we are called to listen carefully, not to what others say, but to what He says (Psalm 23).
In the waves, cease your striving, quiet your heart, and hear His voice.
About the Author
Jess Palmer
Jess is a designer and innovator in Pretoria, South Africa. Her heart is to express the beauty of our Father’s heart through all forms of art, but mainly through her design, poetry and photography. She desires to invest in the lives of people around her — to journey with them in cultivating their God-given potential. If anywhere, you will find Jess musing in a coffee shop or wandering contemplatively in a garden.
