Have you ever been in a season of life or season in your relationship with God where it seems like you are not growing and you fall and fail more than you would like? Where you have been so wrapped up in yourself that you are stuck and stagnant? I have, and I have been in this season for quite some time now. But God is so amazing and patient and persistent. I want to share with you my journal entry of what God spoke to my heart about. I pray that you are encouraged and blessed by God in your walk with him.
As I sit here, I am reminded of the goodness and beauty of the Lord.
I remember the Lord saying that the Spirit is like the wind,
it comes and goes as it pleases.
We don’t know where it comes from or where it goes.
I am reminded of this, because as I watch the wind blow,
I think of God’s Holy Spirit
moving, bringing life, peace, joy, goodness.
Then I see the Trees.
When the wind blows, they clap their hands in praise and adoration of the One True Living God.
It truly is a sight to see,
and it is beautiful.
What makes it more beautiful, is that the trees do this in every season, including and especially in the dead season, Winter, when there is no leaves on them, no fruit being bore, and they appear dead.
It is still beautiful because, they praise his name even in that bare, hard, unfruitful dead season, because they know the one who formed them and takes good care of them always. They don’t have to worry. They trust in God, and they wait patiently for him to produce the plentiful, beautiful leaves, and fruit that come with spring.
They are patient as they praise his name when inwardly HE IS GROWING and maturing them.
We don’t see it,
they don’t see it,
but it is happening and God’s Spirit is still there moving, and working in them.
Yet, they still praise his name.
The Lord tells me the same thing about myself in Christ Jesus and HIS FINISHED WORK.
In my season of lack, my season where it seems that no fruit it being bore and I fall and fail and take my eyes off of him, and my season when I am not in plenty, HE is still at work in me, and like the trees, I should praise his name.
Though I cannot see it, He, by the power of His Holy Spirit is growing me.
I am reminded of Mark 4:26, when the Lord tells me that the Kingdom of Heaven is like a farmer scattering seed. He sleeps, He wakes, and does not see or know how the seed grows, until one day:
There is a stalk,
then a head,
then BLOOM!!! it is harvested.
The farmer did not question if God’s Spirit or God himself was working, growing the plant/seed, or if God was present, all because he could not see or know with his own eyes. (I have been asking these questions though)
No, the farmer walked by FAITH and NOT BY SIGHT, and the Lord produced a harvest, and the joy, and trust in the Lord by the farmer was increased by God.
The Lord is encouraging me to do the same thing as the farmer:
Trust in him and walk by faith and not by sight.
The Lord is encouraging me to be like the trees:
Praise him in every season,
Wait on the Lord (because it will be worth it and mean so much more),
and do not worry, because He WILL take care of me.
“I am confident of this, that he who began a good work in you, WILL see it through till the day of completion.” Philippians 1:6
“Rejoice always, give thanks in all circumstances, pray without ceasing, for this is the will of God for your life.”
“And let us run the race marked out for us with perseverance.”
