Every few days since I’ve been back from our summer vacation, I’ve found myself heading out to the deck with a pair of scissors and a basket in my hand. Before long, I’m back inside with another armful of herbs ready for the dehydrator. As I’ve watched this unexpected harvest grow, I’ve been thinking about how much it reminds me of healing from chronic illness. Sometimes there is far more growth happening than we can see.
Every time I head out, it’s a surprise to decide which one needs picking first… because they all grow at different rates and I have several pots of each of my favourite herbs. For me, this is a relaxing “chore.” I’ve allowed myself the space to not worry if something needs to be cut back and discarded so that I can keep up and not have things bolt.
It’s been so astonishing to me that they are SO prolific this year! After starting early, then losing some to the cold and watching the rest look pathetic through most of June, I honestly thought this would be my “Herb Year of Failure!” LOL. Instead, I had a great harvest just before we left in July, and within a week of coming home, I was right back to cutting, drying and storing!
As I was trimming another bowl of lemon balm this week, it occurred to me that healing often looks a lot like gardening. We plant, we water and fertilize, we wait. We don’t really see what’s happening beneath the surface. Then one day, we look back and realize there has been growth all along.
And sometimes, we rotate a plant and see that the side facing the light is even more remarkable.
Growth Is Often Happening Before We Can See It.
As I stood there looking at another overflowing bowl of herbs, I realized something. I wasn’t harvesting what had grown this week. I was harvesting weeks and months of quiet growth that I couldn’t see while it was happening. Every sunny day, every rainfall, every cool night (and there were a LOT of those last two), every little bit of care had added up to this moment.
Healing from chronic illness can so often be exactly like that. We start a few new protocols… maybe it’s upping hydration, maybe for you it was breath work practice, or maybe it was something dietary or something to help you deal with pain, like Epsom salt baths. We simply see very little progress for weeks and sometimes months at a time.
Have you ever started a plant from seed? I mean, as opposed to what I do these days… just going to the greenhouse and buying plants already well developed and rooted? From my former years of starting seeds in Manitoba, where winters are super harsh, I can tell you it takes a LOT of work!
Here’s the fun part… sorta!! LOL. After all that planting, transplanting and moving things to the greenhouse, it often looked like there was a LOT of dirt and a lot of boxes… but almost ZERO green stuff! Kinda humorous actually.
But it’s not so funny when you’re doing that kind of work on your health. Months of protocols can leave you feeling like you have very little progress to show for it. If you examine your health under a microscope, maybe you see 2 or 4 leaves growing on a stick… You know what I mean! Breath work is a little easier, you had one almost-decent night of sleep, or maybe better hydration has helped with bloating or digestion… maaaaybe. There are little changes, but you’re still not really sure anything has changed overall.
When Healing Feels Slow, Don’t Miss What God Is Growing
This is where I think we can so easily become discouraged. We look at those two or four little leaves and forget how much has already happened to get them there. We focus on how far we still have to go instead of noticing the small changes that are beginning to add up.
Sometimes we don’t recognize our progress until we look back. Maybe you can walk a little farther than you could six months ago. Maybe you recover more quickly after a busy day, your sleep is slowly improving, or something that used to completely overwhelm you is becoming a little easier. Those changes may not feel very impressive when you’re still waiting for so much more, but they still matter.
I’ve learned to do this in my own healing journey. Every once in a while, I need to stop looking at where I wish I was and remember where I actually started. That’s often when I realize that things have been changing all along.
I think God asks the same of us spiritually. We don’t always get to see what He is doing or know how long a season will last. Sometimes we simply have enough strength for the next step, and then the next one after that.
Galatians 6:9 says, “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.”
That verse feels especially appropriate as I stand in my kitchen surrounded by drying herbs! The harvest I’m enjoying now didn’t appear overnight. And when healing feels slow, I think it’s worth remembering that the progress we can see today may only be a small glimpse of what has been growing all along.
Hope for the Waiting
If you’re in one of those seasons where progress is hard to see, I created Hope in the Waiting: A Devotional for Setback Seasons especially for you. It’s a short, faith-filled resource for the days when healing feels slow and you need encouragement to trust God with the part of the journey you can’t see yet.
Download Hope in the Waiting here
I hope it helps you recognize the growth that’s already there, find strength for the next step, and keep your eyes on the God who is with you through every season of waiting.