The Sweetness That Comes With Time

I buy bananas every single week. In fact, if you walked into my kitchen right now, you’d see two bunches sitting on the counter in various stages of ripening.

We use them for everything — ​smoothies​, ​nice cream​, peanut butter banana sandwiches… and of course, our grandnieces and nephews grab them the minute they walk through the door. Bananas don’t last long around here. But here’s the funny part: we’re almost always waiting on them.

Waiting for those stubborn green tips to turn yellow. Waiting for those little brown speckles to show up. Waiting for them to become perfectly sweet.

Because if you’ve ever taken a bite of a banana that wasn’t ripe enough…you know. It’s firm. It’s a little bitter. There’s even an aftertaste. Definitely not what you expected.

The same banana that will eventually taste like creamy sweetness just needs time. And isn’t that just like us?

Sometimes we want to rush the process. We want to be ready now. We want the sweetness of the finished result without the waiting on the counter. But growth doesn’t work that way. God ripens us in seasons.

There are green seasons, when we feel unfinished, unprepared, maybe even a little hard around the edges. Seasons where we wonder, “Why am I not further along?” or “Why isn’t this happening yet?” But just like those bananas, something is happening.

Ripening is quiet work. It’s unseen chemistry. It’s transformation on the inside before the outside fully shows it. And when the timing is right? Sweetness.

Galatians 6:9 reminds us, “Let us not grow weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” Proper time. Not rushed time. Not forced time.

So if you feel like you’re in a green season right now — not quite ready, not quite where you hoped to be — take heart. God isn’t late. He’s ripening you.

And trust me. When He’s done, the sweetness will be worth the wait.

February 20, 2026 Morning Brew

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