Every Season, Sowing.
As winter settles in you begin to notice nature's gradual deceleration. Days shorten, nights lengthen, and growth slackens. Every winter that comes around, a part of me resists the slowdown and the trials that come with the cold. I still long for vibrant blooms and that abundant fruitfulness of the warmer months. Why can't spring and summer reign all year?
We are going through a month of sickness and hospital visits with our seven year old son. At the moment it feels like this winter will go on and on. Life has been on hold, it has felt unproductive and I have sensed myself withering some days the longer it continues. My own expectations of myself have not been met and it's a challenge to meet the needs and expectations of my entire family.
There is a temptation to fabricate blooms and find quick fixes to multiple situations instead of trusting God in this season. I can appear more productive than what I really am if I work and try hard enough (and likely burn myself out!). There is also a temptation to do the opposite. To throw my hands in the air. There's nothing I can do to fix it anyway, so I just need to wait it out. I can squander my time on meaningless pursuits, scrolling social media, for example, and just taking it easy.
Sowing with Intention
There is a sweet alternative that I am praying God will nurture in me. In the winter months and the quiet seasons, I can still sow with intention. Sowing doesn't mean striving, manipulating or controlling, nor does it mean twiddling my thumbs and waiting for God to show up. Rather, it is faithfully abiding in Him day by day. It may look different in changing seasons, but every season sees me sowing. Some seasons yield a harvest, but even in barren times, I continue to sow. Therefore, if I neglect to sow intentionally during these sluggish, cold, and silent seasons, I inadvertently sow… wastefully.
“If I neglect to sow intentionally during these sluggish, cold, and silent seasons, I inadvertently sow… wastefully.”
Sowing in the Mundane
I've had some sweet conversations and unhurried times with my children the past few weeks. The trials have sparked beautiful conversations about faith and the way God grows our character through hard times and disappointments. We have all been learning to be grateful for the small things, like sunshine and fresh baking, all over again. We have recalled more of God's faithfulness and promises and prayed more together - daily. Suffering brings God's Word and our deep connection with Him to life.
As I've sat in hospitals for hours (and in the past, sometimes days and weeks) on end, I often ask God, “Lord, is this really what you have called me to do today?” Well yes, some days that is what God has called me to do. I am called to sit on the cold metal chair beside my child's hospital bed. Sometimes I get upgraded to the recliner which is nice. Regardless, my main role in those times of sitting and just being, I believe, is to pray. It seems very simple and mundane. But I'm sowing.
Deep Rootedness
Fruit isn’t the product of just the season in which it’s obvious and growing; fruit is born out of the rootedness of the plant, season after season. A tree will be fruitful in due season when it chooses to be deeply rooted from the beginning. We get to choose whether we’ll remain and stay close to God, our Source, in the midst of our current season, even when we can’t yet see the fruit we hope will come. We choose to remain rooted, but fruit is the Spirit’s work (Gal. 5:22–23). We can’t will fruit into existence.
“Fruit is born out of the rootedness of the plant, season after season.”
A season of limitation may not define your season of harvest, but it will affect the way you grow. We must choose to sow with intention, to remain faithful and to abide in Christ daily. We won’t arrive at the harvest without abiding and sowing intentionally today.