The oranges at the grocery store don’t even taste like an orange at all! However, I would have never known that had I not had the privilege of tasting a fully ripe orange straight off the tree!
When we moved into our house we inherited a 30-year-old orange tree. All year round, our tree produces some of the largest, juiciest, sweetest oranges I’ve ever tasted! We always have enough to feed our family, to give away, and even share with the neighborhood rodents! (ewww…. TMI?)
To just touch our oranges will leave the crisp fragrance of orange on your hands, and to pick it off the tree will leave a lingering aroma of fresh squeezed oranges trailing behind you. To peel one of these magnificence fruits is to permeate the entire house with the smell of orange, and to eat one requires leaning over the kitchen sink! But, if you’re in the mood for a glass of juice, simply squeeze it using only your hand, and you will fill up a 6 ounce glass effortlessly!
Not so long ago, I walked out to the tree to grab an orange. I pulled one off a lower limb that looked ripe; However, when I took the first bite, it’s tart flavor made my lips pucker! It was definitely not the sweet juicy orange I’d grown accustom to eating!
Although it looked ready to be picked — it wasn’t. I should’ve known when it was slightly resistant to being plucked off it’s branch, and the skin was very thin and difficult to pull off the orange that it was telling me it’s not ready yet!
Often times that’s what we do in life. We reach for what is easy to possess only to find out we’ve picked too early. We desire the description of the ripest orange, but we wont wait long enough to experience the flavor! It’s common to get tired of waiting, especially when we really want something to happen. But it’s a trap! Our impatience will always cause us to settle for what is sour.
Here are 4 things we can do to make sure we get what is “ripe” for us every time:
1. Do not ignore the warning signs of resistance. Roadblocks provide protection.
2. Remember waiting isn’t eternal it’s seasonal. All seasons come to completion.
2. Do not settle for the counterfeit when God wants to give you the authentic. If it tastes bitter than there is better!
4. Remember waiting isn’t passive it’s active. We grow in potency and power as we wait in Him.
…For the Lord is a faithful God, blessed are those who wait for him to help them. Isa 30:18
In the waiting with you,
