“Because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” James 1:3-4 (NIV)

This Friday, just hours before heading to the hospital for my next bladder cancer surgery, I found myself thinking about gardeners. I have never been one—I would not know the first thing about working soil or planting seeds. Yet as I prepared for another procedure and another wait for pathology results, I kept wondering what it must feel like to plant something and simply trust that it will grow.

Jesus said, “I am the vine; you are the branches” (John 15:5, NIV). He did not say we must understand how the vine works—only that we must remain connected to Him. Perhaps that is what a gardener’s heart truly reflects: not mastery over soil and seeds, but trust in growth that cannot be seen or controlled.

Now, three days later, as I wait for my pathology report, I imagine this is what gardeners feel after planting. They cannot force seeds to sprout faster. They cannot dig them up to check on progress without damaging what is growing. They simply trust that something good is happening beneath the surface, in the unseen darkness.

James reminds us that the testing of our faith produces perseverance—not instantly, not on our timeline, but in hidden places where real growth occurs. I may not understand gardening, but I am learning what it means to stay connected to the Vine during seasons of waiting.

This is not empty time. It is growing time. It is time for character to deepen, for faith to mature, and for my relationship with the Divine Gardener to flourish in ways that only patient waiting can produce.