This happens to me frequently.

In fact, God just answered my prayer yesterday with only two words: “The orchard.”

Let me explain.

It has been exceptionally cold where I am. I am talking in the negative temps. Last week, it went down to -10℉ (-23℃).

Eww. So cold.

I heard myself praying/complaining aloud, “UGH. Can we be done with this yet? Can we please get a break?”

And then God answered me back with two simple words: “The orchard.”

Now, you likely don’t know what that means. But it was a targeted response that shot like an arrow to my heart.

You see, last week I saw a local orchard make a post on Facebook that centered around how grateful they were for the extreme cold.And I thought to myself, “What is wrong with y’all?”

But they explained that some of their perennial plants such as the apples, strawberries, and raspberries need a cold winter–a long dormancy–so that they do not have early bud.

As such, the orchard is anticipating a greater harvest than normal due to our long, cold winter.

Here was the Lord’s point to me: “You don’t always understand how I do the things that I do. For example, you didn’t know that crops needed a long winter to be healthy and bring forth the fruit that YOU need for sustenance…Equally, you don’t always understand why I allow certain things in your life. You cannot see what I can see. You do not understand the intricacies of growth and development. You do not have sufficient insight to comprehend My ways.”

Whew. He really convicted me with those words. 

I can think of a million things I do not understand. 

Things such as: 

–How does He bring forth lactation in all mammals when their young are born? And how does that milk contain the exact proportion of ingredients, microbes, and antibodies that their young need? 

–How does He anchor the Sun to the sky so it doesn’t come barreling down at us and scorch us? How did He make a ball of fire so hot that Scientists estimate that the sun’s core measures temperatures of 27 million degrees Fahrenheit?* And how powerful must He be to generate that type of heat and then maintain it perfectly?

–How is the moon’s gravitational pull so strong that it impacts the ocean’s low and high tides? And why did He design it that way?

–How does He know every single star’s name? Why did He make so many? (Psalm 147:4-5 NIV says, “He determines the number of the stars and calls them each by name. Great is our Lord and mighty in power; his understanding has no limit.”)

–How can He count the exact number of hairs on every single human’s head, simultaneously? (Luke 12:7)

–How has he always just existed for all eternity? No beginning? No end? What in the world did He do for an eternal past? What are His plans for an eternal future?

If I am being honest, I can get bogged down by all that I don’t know about how He operates.

Yet that was not His point. His point to me was this: “The thing you can trust, when you do not understand my actions, is my unwavering character. You can trust that I have your best interests at heart. Always. And so, even though it seems cold and dark–just like this long winter–I am still bringing forth life behind the scenes. Trust Me.”

I hope this message encourages you the way it encouraged me. God keeps reminding me, repeatedly, to come back to His character. Who He is is trustworthy. He will not and cannot deny Himself. (2 Timothy 2:13 “If we are faithless, he remains faithful— for he cannot deny himself.”)

Our God is doing so much behind the scenes that if we even got a glimpse of 1% of it all, I think our feeble human minds would explode.

Yet, He is trustworthy. He is on His throne. And we know He is working it all for our good. (Romans 8:28 NIV “And we know that all things work together for the good of those who love Him who have been called according to His purposes.)..

Til next Time,

Liz

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*https://science.nasa.gov/solar-system/temperatures-across-our-solar-system/