I know it only takes a few weeks for bean plants to sprout from seed, but those weeks are the longest weeks ever! Everyday for weeks, I would check on my beans to see if they were sprouting yet. My husband took notice of my impatience and joked, “Are your bean plants ever going to grow?” to playfully antagonize and expose my unrealistic expectation.

     Honestly, I didn’t know. I didn’t know if they were growing in there or if they all drowned and would never come to be. If I dug them up to check on them, I would disturb the beans and possibly kill them if they did happen to be alive and well. 

     I had to have faith that those little bean seeds were growing, even if I couldn’t see them. I had to trust that they are doing what seeds are made to do down in the dirt; and that they would someday grow to be delightful green beans. 

     Sure enough, my bean plants sprouted. Although it was much more fun seeing the plants grow above the dirt, I had to have faith in what I couldn’t see. I had to believe that they were maturing and growing. I had to leave them sit underneath the soil and continue to tend to them, when all I wanted to do was to dig them up to see what was happening. 

     I don’t always see the growth happening in my life and others. I don’t see my toddler connecting the dots in his head on how to make up a proper sentence. Yet, one day he says, “I want more milk.” rather than screaming milk at the top of his lungs in frustration, because it’s the only word he knows. I don’t see my husband pondering ways to make me feel loved, but he makes me dinner when I’m sick and handles all the kids’ needs when he gets home from work. I don’t see my muscles tearing and repairing to become stronger until I am able to lift heavier weights with ease.

     I don’t see God moving in my life, until something happens that I can understand or sense, and I realize that He was working all along. It’s things like this that remind me to have faith in what I can’t see.