Leaders, Ministry Leadership, Podcasts / Devotionals
Between Seasons
#RemainInHim #WorshipDevotional Do you ever wonder why some seasons seem more fruitful than others? In life and in ministry it’s common to go through the rut experience. You may feel like nothing significant is happening. But there is.
Maybe what you desire to happen has not fully come to fruition. It’s easy to get tired, turned-off and even frustrated, especially when you find little validation from your efforts. But there is growth.
“The fruit of the Spirit wasn’t intended to be a list of goals for us to produce – it is the Holy Spirit through us who produces fruit.” – Dan Kimball Sometimes, unnecessary and unrealistic expectations over your head can feel like a dreaded list of to-dos.
When we are in a rut or in-between the seasons, we may feel unworthy or useless – like we can never measure up. So how do we live in between the seasons or in the unfavorable ruts? You know the familiar baseball allegory: no body bats 1,000.
We’ll I add this statement: no body bats 1,000, but no body ever misses 1,000 either. How do we find our season? How are we to be uprooted from the rut? I believe it’s found by being planted besides the waters of Psalm 1. 1 Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. 2 But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night. 3 He is like a tree planted by streams of water which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither.
Whatever he does prospers. The writer of the Psalms paints a refreshing picture of what it means to live in between the seasons. He begins by saying, “blessed is the man,” (v.1) because it is the person who walks in the Lord’s council. When everyone else runs in the flood (1Pet. 4.4), God has you on the ground and out of the way of evil. In verse 2, our delight is in Him who daily gives us His word as our daily bread. Day and night, He is our Provider of every need and knows what is good for us.
I love how Psalm 136:25 describes Him in saying: “and who gives food to every creature. His love endures forever.”
To be a tree by the water, we are to soak up His nourishment – His Spirit. He provides food, refreshment and enjoyment so we may grow – His Word and commands. Verse 3 tells us that if we are planted and nourished, fruit will yield – His purposes. This is not some unattainable goal. He is not a God to dangle a carrot over our heads as we sulk in pity. The Psalmist says: which yields its fruit in season. This means two things:
- It never says we stop growing
- It never says we are left unattended.
You do not have to look any further than beneath the surface of what God is really cultivating. Even in the rut, God is still deepening your roots. Another insight that I love about verse three is that we grow the kind of fruit that is in season. This means that there is a different kind of growth for a different kind of fruit in different kinds of seasons.
Think about it, sprouts, greens and berries grow in the Spring, tomatoes, carrots and plums grow in the Summer, apples, squash and pumpkins grow in the Fall, potatoes, onions and rutabagas grow in the Winter. “Any man can work when every stroke of his hands brings down the fruit rattling from the tree but to labor in season and out of season, under every discouragement… that requires a heroism which is transcendent.” – Henry Ward Beecher Let this encourage you to know that there is a larger picture-taking place with your life in God.
He wants you to be a field of growth in producing many kinds of fruit.
Going through a rut experience is normal, but dwelling in discouragement is damaging. We are not called to be one corner section of the crops, producing one kind of fruit and one kind only.
That is what the world wants you to believe. As we just read, our nourishment does not come from man-made fertilizers and products, but only by the refreshing water of the Spirit and our daily bread of Jesus. Our Father, who is the loving vinedresser, tends us all. [ctt template=”10″ link=”g36Al” via=”no” ]You are doing your part as long as you remain in His vine – no matter the weather – no matter the season.[/ctt] “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 because 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. – Jn 15.1-4. Reflection: What season are you in right now? How can you draw upon the waters of God to be restored? Take time to allow Him to nurture the growth that is happening under the surface.
What kind of fruit is He producing in you? How can you give it back to Him in praise?
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@BranonDempsey @worshiptt
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