When our daughter was three, we enrolled her in a summer camp. The kind couple who ran the camp had a mini garden. Potted plants of all kinds grew happily together in this little space.
Always interested in planting something new, my husband was delighted to receive a few fern seeds as a gift from them. He eagerly planted them in a pot, watered them, and watched every morning as we sat sipping our chai.
He waited for the little shoots to poke their tips above the soil. Nothing. He waited some more. Still nothing. Six months went by. I suggested that perhaps we should use the pot for another plant.
You see, when I invest time in something, I like to see results.
But surely, it’s not just me. Our world prizes impact, outcomes, and numbers, and expects these almost instantaneously. But what if we don’t get those results? Those answers?
What happens when you’ve been doing everything you can — praying, serving, forgiving, teaching, trusting — but nothing seems to be happening?
No little plant breaking through the soil.
No change of heart.
No miracle.
No clear answer from heaven.
Waiting in the dark
Are you in that space today? Maybe you’re asking, “Is this it? Is this what I had been working/praying/waiting for? Is there no more?”
One of scripture’s greatest figures had a similar question.
John the Baptist.
A voice crying out, preparing hearts, preparing the way, giving it his all. Yet his part in God’s great plan ended before He could see the work of salvation accomplished on the cross.
In fact, he did not even see Christ in action, sowing seeds in the very soil he had prepared. He merely heard about it all, while he sat on the cold prison floor, alone and likely confused. He had given everything to prepare the way. And now, he waited in the dark, hearing second-hand reports about Jesus.
So he sent a question to Jesus.
“Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?”
John the Baptist, the firebrand prophet, was worried. Perhaps. But Jesus didn’t rebuke him. Instead, the gentle Savior reminded John of God’s promises through the words of the prophet Isaiah:
“Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news brought to them.”
In other words: Yes, John. Trust in My plan. I am working. Even if you can’t see it from where you are right now.
John’s question is familiar. It brings back to me all the times I’ve waited in the dark and wondered, “Lord, when is my answer coming? Aren’t you sending one?” And each time, even when I couldn’t yet see it, He was working.
My part was to ask and to wait with hope, always with hope.
At work in the quiet
So when you’re wondering about that prayer you made weeks or months or even years ago, look at John, who waited. And whose work bore rich fruit. Know this: Even when the answers don’t come and nothing seems to move, God is at work in the quiet. Trust Him.
When you still feel hurt, He is healing.
When that relationship still seems broken, He is restoring.
When the doors of a heart appear hard and closed, He is at work within.
Oh, and that pot? The empty one, which I suggested would be better off used for something else? Well, my husband, being more patient than I am, waited.
About eight months after the seeds had been sown, a baby fern poked its head through the soil. It went on to grow into a verdant lace that ran around our grill. While nothing was happening above the ground, roots were growing beneath.
My astonishment was met with a thoughtful glance by my husband. “At the appointed time,” he whispered, remembering the words of scripture.
So if you’re feeling discouraged and waiting in the dark, remember all that He has done before. All the promises He has kept. And know that even when you don’t see the fruit, the ground beneath is teeming with change and God is working in the quiet.
I am confident of this, that the one who began a good work among you will bring it to completion by the day of Jesus Christ.
Philippians 1:6 (NRSVCE)
In faith,
Is there something you’ve been faithfully showing up for but feeling discouraged because of what you don’t see? Sit in stillness today and tell Him so. Then, hand it over to Him — not demanding answers, but asking for trust. For peace, not in the future, but in the now, in the waiting.
Faith grows in the little spaces of our ordinary lives, through reflection, prayer, and a gentle turning of our hearts toward the God who loves us.