The Good Steward

For the Ones still waiting

When winter comes to the North of the world, bringing its ice and snow, a small frog begins producing copious amounts of urine. It does not, however, pass this urine as we would do, but instead stores it in its blood.   

As the first frosts set in and the temperature begins to drop, the little frog begins to freeze.  Ice forms on its skin and in its veins, and begins to freeze its blood, stripping the frog’s cells of the necessary moisture they need to survive. Should the process continue, the little frog will not make it through the winter.   

Fortunately, this remarkable amphibian is a hardy little thing and will not be taken out so easily. In response to the ice taking hold of the frog’s body, the frog’s liver begins secreting massive amounts of glucose.

This glucose mixes with the urine in the frog’s blood and creates a unique solution, an antifreeze, that hydrates the frog’s cells and only allows the water between them to freeze.  

Safely protected from the irreversible damage the ice would have caused it, the little frog freezes over and enters a period of suspended animation.

All its internal functions come to a near-complete stop. Its heart, lungs, and metabolism all slow to a death-like pace, and it remains frozen for eight long months. That is, until spring comes to the North of the world, bringing its warmth and light, and thaws the little frog from its hibernation.    

The frog that I speak of is none other than the Wood Frog, and right now, shallow pools across the Northern USA, Canada, and regions north of the Arctic Circle, are being filled with their duck-like calls as they wake to the world for the first time this year.   

As I was researching this remarkable amphibian, I saw a comment likening the Wood Frog’s hibernation to the grieving process, but instead of your body, you are waiting for your heart to thaw out. 

It made me wonder how many of us are waiting to thaw, waiting to wake up to 2026 and step into the newness we were promised on January 1^st . I wonder how many of us are frozen in grief, fear, shame, because we aren’t where we thought we would be at this point in our lives.  

If that’s you, you are not alone, I promise. In fact, 75% of people feel the same way (according to a survey done in 2021). I feel the same way, which is why I found so much comfort in the Wood Frog’s hibernation process because it served as a reminder that there are so many different rhythms of life on this planet, each of them equally valid.  

Yes, perhaps you are still waiting for the right person, still persevering in that job, still caught on that dream you are desperate to make work. 

That doesn’t mean you’re broken, or that the questions people ask, like ‘why aren’t you there yet’ or ‘when will you grow up?’ holds any merit. 

Your ‘stillness’ is not a testament of your failings, just as the success of others is not proof you will never make it. The Wood Frog’s hibernation reminded me of that, as well as this simple truth: your life does not need to unfold at the same rate as anyone else’s or their expectations.   

After all, no one thinks it strange that the Southern Hemisphere is in Winter when the Northern Hemisphere is in Summer, no one scolds the birds when they migrate to warmer climes, or hibernating animals for only now waking up 5 months into the year. 

Interwoven throughout God’s Creation is an array of uniquely individual threads that move to the beat of their own lives. It would be unreasonable to measure the life and therefore success of one according to the life of another.  

The same is true for us. You cannot measure your life and therefore its success according to the life of another person. It would be like weighing the success of an Emperor Penguin’s life according to a Humboldt Penguin. Sure, they’re both Penguins, but they lead completely different lives and go through completely different seasons.  

Writing this reminds me of Ecclesiastes 3:1, which says, 

Ecclesiastes 3:1 NKJV 

To everything there is a season,  

A time for every purpose under heaven:    

 It is expected that the seasons of your life would look different to others because God’s plan for your life is unique to you, as Jeremiah 29:11 says 

Jeremiah 29:11 NKJV 

For I know the thoughts that I think towards you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give, you a future and a hope.  

God has a plan for you that will give you a future and a hope. Take heart in those words, you have a future. It might not come when others expect it to or even when you expect it to, that doesn’t mean it’s not unfolding. 

Don’t try to live the plan of God for someone else’s life; it will only exhaust you. Instead, live His plan for yours. If you don’t know what that is, then don’t worry, it’s really easy to find out; you simply need to ask Him.  

You may not get a response straight away, but trust He has answered you, and as the days roll by, you may find that a dream you had years ago keeps coming to your mind, or you keep thinking about that job you didn’t think you were qualified for, or a still small voice keeps prompting you to message that friend and ask them to meet up. Eventually, as you follow these leadings of the Holy Spirit, you will wake to an unrecognisable life, one full of light and warmth.    

Your life will unfold how it is meant to. I know that is hard to believe in the midst of the wait, but if you follow the leading of the Lord, if you keep doing what you know is right to do, then “He shall give you the desires of your heart.”  

The wait is long, I know, but I also know that what rests on the other side of the wait makes it worth it, and who knows, your experience may just be the very thing someone needs to hear to help them through their own waiting season. I don’t say that to put pressure on you, but only to say your testimony will be a rich one. 

You will get there, and should a lying voice come to discourage you again and tell you that you’re failing or too far behind, remember the Wood Frog and let God remind you there are countless rhythms of life on His planet and that you don’t need permission to walk to the beat of your own.  

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