She was tired as she limped through the end of the last year. Tarnished with experience, yet ready to shine with her new strength. Emboldened by the lessons learned from the last chapters of her story. The scrapes that had bruised her tender heart had healed over and left her hopeful for the future.
Was the last season hard for you? Perhaps you are coming out of a long challenge, or still in the fight.
I want to encourage you to never, ever give up.
The thing about our life seasons is, they are cyclic- our experiences continue on. Hard times lead way to gentle dawns, and joy will be tempered by sorrow.
That is, with time, a thing to understand as a gift. How both joy and struggle matter.
Each challenge is, without our even knowing it, a training ground. One that offers us a chance to create a garden of joy and hope, tossing the weeds of struggle aside.
Remembering them as a reality, but choosing which lens to view them through.
Everything has seasons, and we have to be able to recognize when something’s time has passed and be able to move into the next season. Everything that is alive requires pruning as well, which is a great metaphor for endings- Henry Cloud
Cultivate hope to prepare our fallow ground
A new year, a new day… is a brilliant and fresh chapter. A whole collection of unfamiliar days that are brimming with potential.
cultivate- to train, refine or foster developement. to prepare the soil… (or in this case, spirit)
In order to prepare for the healthiest growth, it is often required to prune the current life to make way for a brand new season of bloom.
What would you need to let go of to make room for a vibrant, fresh year?
prune-to rid or clear of (anything superfluous or undesirable)
Are you familiar with the concept of fallow land in the Bible? The term refers to land that is left, after plowing, to be idle. In order to let the soil regain its health.
In Exodus 23:11 it was even prescribed for a whole YEAR of rest, every seven years, for soil after it has been heavily used.
God allows a pruning season
Maybe you feel like your life, your soil, your garden has been dormant. Last year was such a challenge, I couldn’t think of much to harvest. But…
What if instead of looking at the soil as having failed us, we consider that we were in a silent season of renewal? Of fallow ground?
God prunes the good to find the best.
Maybe some things needed to be cut out. To make room for something new. A plant needs to grow in healthy soil to produce the best yield.
Let us turn the soil and cultivate our lives with renewed vigor.
Break up the fallow ground for restoration
I needed pruning. And one diseased part God clipped was grief. The grief that stole too much of me.
That kept me from turning to face the Son with anticipation of my next harvest.
Weeds were choking out my field and God clipped them ALL back. It left me bare and vulnerable last year. And to be honest, lonely.
Because I had so little of value in my meager prior harvest left to share, and I wanted to give more. But I was too weak.
The Master Gardener sent a loyal servant to tend to me for His Lord. He gently and persistently added nutrients back to my soil and diagnosed some of the diseased leaves.
However, he never took credit for his work. He angled my face squarely back towards the Master.
This servant is my Spiritual Father and he has been as true of a friend as I’ve ever known for three years. He asked the Father for guidance when I was too weak or confused, and set to work.
Gleefully and patiently waiting, to see God show off with His prize that the Servant tended so carefully.
“I will restore you to health and heal your wounds, declares the Lord” Jeremiah 30:17
We are pruned in different ways, for different purposes. How breathtaking that must look to the Gardener who imagined this landscape of His treasures in the first place.
The fallow ground will be planted with healthier specimens than before, and the required rest period will only intensify the beauty of our purpose.
Your turn- what will you choose to prune and cultivate this year?
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I think “weightless” sounds so interesting! I’ll be curious to see how that becomes more clear for you! Thanks for sharing Tracy!