Time: The Willingness To Hold On

Introduction:

Welcome my friend,

What a quick turnaround it is, that we've already arrived another weekend.

I can still recall our last conversation as vividly as if it were yesterday, and yet, here we are again.

That said, I really don't mind at all, because who wouldn't want to be here with someone like you, sharing thoughts that resonate, gaining new insights, and becoming better for it.

Today will be no different, so let's get right to it.

Discussion: 

You see, when I was a child growing up, there was this pear tree nearby that reliably produced fine fruit in its season.

For us kids, there were two ways to get the pears: either try to knock them down from where we stood, which was the harder way, or simply wait for them to fall on their own and then collect them from the ground.

Now, here’s the catch, because we were aiming from afar, we usually ended up dislodging the unripe ones, wasting fruit that would have dropped freely once fully mature.

Here, the real issue was our impatience; we insisted on having them today rather than returning tomorrow.

This is the basis for today’s conversation.

■ Time - The Concept Of Seasons 

One of the most frustrating things for us is having to wait for something we already want to see happen.

Yet, nothing illustrates the ideas of time, seasons, and patience quite like nature does through the growth of plants.

The truth is, no matter how diligently a farmer works or how strongly he wishes it, a plant simply won’t produce fruit outside its proper season.

This mirrors many of our own real life situations.

Most often, the reason something hasn’t happened for us yet is that the time isn’t right, not that it never will.

Here, maturity is the crucial factor.

Anything truly worthwhile generally requires time to develop before it blossoms into something meaningful.

After all, the moment a seed is planted isn’t the moment it yields fruit, and every step of tending it in the meantime counts as progress, for that’s precisely what enables it to bear fruit eventually.

If we wouldn’t berate ourselves because our tree hasn’t fruited before it’s mature, why do we do exactly that when an idea or project of ours hasn’t yet come to fruition?

For no fault of ours, things can still be delayed as far as we can tell, yet that doesn’t mean we’re not putting in enough effort.

Sometimes it simply isn’t the right moment, and other elements in the situation still need to fall into place; so we ought to extend grace to ourselves instead of beating ourselves up.

■ Time - The Willingness To Hold On 

This awareness that everything gets easier once its proper time arrives gives us the strength to hold on until that time.

How many times do we find ourselves excelling at the very things we used to struggle with?

Simply because effort and consistency over time have produced experience, the little code that cracks everything else open.

The truth is, we achieve success in our inputs long before it shows up in our outputs as tangible evidence.

Yet, without the steadfast conviction to keep pouring in our best, especially through the tough stretches, we’ll never reap the results we seek, no matter how much time elapses.

In essence, we must continue behaving in ways that align with our aspirations, undeterred.

■ Time - A Divine Concept 

As believers, we have ample evidence to trust in divine timing, drawing profound lessons from the life of Jesus Christ.

For example, just before He performed His first miracle of turning water into wine, He told His mother, when she urged Him to act, that “My hour has not yet come.”

Then again, when certain religious leaders plotted to stone Him to death, He slipped away from their grasp because “the hour of His death had not yet come.”

These two moments reveal that, just like Christ, as children of God, our lives unfold according to His perfect will and a sacred timetable we are called to trust.

Often, a vast gap stretches between God’s promises and their fulfillment, a gap typically filled with trials, heartache, and hardship that tempt us to question Him.

Yet, this very gap is part of His plans.

God employs every trial within that interval to ready us for His blessings, ensuring we can receive them without becoming overwhelmed by them.

Consequently, He permits us to endure these challenges to build the strength of our character.

This refining process demands time, and we must embrace it rather than wish it away in a bid to evade the discomfort.

Summary:

Fear, doubt, and frustration can easily seep in when we feel trapped, yearning for change.

Yet, in countless instances, only time holds the solution we seek.

It’s not that the pears will never be ours; it’s simply that we must return tomorrow, when they’re ripe, to gather them effortlessly from the ground.

Truly, life becomes effortless and restful as everything aligns, when it’s time.

Master Apprentice.

www.x.com/truekingmaker