In Oklahoma it seems we often go from summer to winter, skipping out on fall. It’s finally beginning to look and feel like a new season, and although things are falling off, maybe they are really falling into place. I love summer with a relaxed schedule and more daylight but I find myself excited about the change of seasons this year. A few weeks ago, I had the pleasure of traveling to New England where the colors were vivid and the temperature crisp.
Change is inevitable and often sneaks up on us just like a new season does. We can either resist it or go with it but either way, it is going to take place. As closets are rearranged to bring in the sweaters, and flowerbeds are prepared for the first frost, let’s allow the Lord to prepare our hearts for His timely rearranging as well.
Maybe it’s time for a few things to fall off in order to prepare for the winter months. As I visited family in Connecticut a few years back I was astonished at the sight of massive tree limbs piled up by the roadside. My brother explained to me that a major snowstorm had hit before the leaves had fallen off of the trees. The weight of the snow and ice on the leaves caused considerable damage to the tree limbs. It is necessary for leaves to fall off before the winter season arrives.
Are you willing to allow the Lord to reveal to you things that need to fall off or be removed for you to enter into the next season undamaged? Trust His hand and trust His timing. Jesus taught His disciples about this need of pruning.
“I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. You are already clean beecause of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.”
John 15:1-4
Jesus is the vine. The Father is the gardener. We are the branches. Every branch is pruned SO THAT it will be more fruitful. The Greek word translated “prune” in this passage has more to do with cleaning up, purification, and removing of defilement and imperfections than cutting off. The losing of leaves and a season of pruning make things look barren and empty but we must trust the master gardener knows what He is doing.
Maybe the Lord is making some of us ready to turn over a new leaf. We get so used to the routine and comfort of a particular season that many of us have a hard time embracing the new one. Every sunset and sunrise are a reminder of this. The Lord’s mercies are new every morning. His character is certain and unchanging but He likes to do new things in our lives!
“See, the former things have taken place, and new things I declare: before they spring into being I announce them to you.”
Isaiah 42:9
Are you positioning yourself for growth and maturity? Fall is a time of preparation for the winter season. As things drop off and visible growth ends, roots actually deepen to prepare for the new growth that spring will bring. Winter has its own beauty but is the starkest and darkest of all the seasons.
Growing up as an Air Force Brat I had the privilege of living in several different climates. In each place, we found beauty and uniqueness. Culture shock was experienced as our family station wagon pulled into Phoenix, Arizona in the middle of summer especially moving from Fort Walton Beach, Florida. Living close to the powdery, white sand beaches of Florida was amazing but the desert landscape stole our hearts.
Are you in a desert season right now? Ask the Lord to open your eyes to the beauty He has placed all around you. Quit looking for the ocean and relish in a different beauty. Often it’s the people we surround ourselves with that make a difference. Some of my more difficult times have produced some of the richest relationships and have deepened my faith. We can find beauty and richness of community wherever the Lord positions us.
I recently visited a friend as she was hooked up to chemotherapy. Her hair had fallen out and strong substances were going into her system to cut off and eradicate the cancer cells. But even in a seemingly unfruitful, dark season, she was drinking deeply of life and hope and relationship. New hair will grow, healthy cells will multiply and spiritual maturity is flourishing. She has never looked more beautiful!
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts. As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.”
Isaiah 55:8-11
Whatever you may be experiencing in the particular season you are in, lift up your eyes to the Lord. Remain in the vine. Expect a time of joyful harvest in the future. The Lord is near!
