I love spring, but seeing budding this early was worrying, because winter always seems to have a way of getting in one last laugh. So, I asked the Lord's protection over the buds and emerging leaves. I now realize that this probably caused Him to smile the way a parent might smile at a toddler asking her mommy to make sure the dog's newborn puppies don't get cold at night.
When the winter temperatures did return for a while, not much actually happened. The budding was held gently in limbo, and is now resuming. He had it all safely in His hands, and knew what He was doing.
God always knows what He's doing.
As with the spring buds this year, He takes whatever we fully give Him and keeps it safely in His hands. Sometimes He lets things that were budding go dormant for a while. Sometimes He even allows the cold (forces in our lives) to kill something that had begun to grow. But when we yield our lives completely to Him, He commits Himself to bringing His wholeness into our brokenness. He knows just when to move us forward or hold us back to cause His perfect plan to be accomplished.
When we give Him our tangled messes to unravel, often it doesn't seem like He's doing anything. But He is, and His timing is impeccable.