Bananas & Babies

During worship (at church), I wanted to focus on the Lord more than on the song, so I sat down and told Him that I just wanted to meet with Him. Then I saw a “picture” in my mind’s eye (i.e., spirit)—a banana peel laying on the ground—and wondered what it represented. I “heard” the Lord speak inside of me, saying, “What is that?”

I kind of laughed, and said, “Well, Lord, it’s a banana peel.”

“What good is it?” He replied.

“Well, it covers the banana and protects the fruit inside.”

“You can’t eat it,” was His comeback.

I was stymied. Huh? “But Lord, without the skin, the fruit can’t ripen and isn’t protected. It would be no good at all, if there was no skin on the outside to help it ripen and to be safe from things that could harm it.”

“If the skin was bumped, what would happen?”

“Well, if it wasn’t too bad a bump, the skin would absorb it and be bruised, but the banana inside would still be safe.”

“What if it was nicked with something sharp?”

“Well—same thing, Lord; as long as the nick wasn’t too deep, the inside would still be okay.”

“What if it was cut deeply?”

“Well, then the banana inside would be cut, too, and would quickly be inedible.”

Then the picture changed, and I saw a baby inside a womb…really! I was looking at it, enthralled, when the Lord spoke again.

“If that baby feels too cramped in there, can it get out?”

“Well, Father, it can only get out when it’s Your timing for it to be born.”

“What if the parents are tired of it being inside the mother and want it to be born?”

“Well, Lord, that wouldn’t be good because only You know when that baby is ready to be born. If it’s too soon, it will be underdeveloped and will either be very sickly or will die.”

He spoke again. “That’s exactly what happens to each of you when you try to do things before you’re ready. Only I know when the earth is ready for a wave of My glory to sweep over it. Only I know when each of you is ready to launch into something new. I know the process you must go through and how long it must take, depending on your responses to the trials and circumstances in which you are living.

“If someone tears a banana off its tree before it’s ripe, it will be inedible; if they pick it and don’t eat it, it will eventually rot or be banged up and become rotten. If a baby is born before it’s due, it will have lots of problems. And so it is with each of you. You must wait for My timing to do the things I call you to do. You must be ready when I’m ready to use you. But you can only do that if you abide in Me and wait for My timing.”

“Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD.” (Psalm 27:14)