Enduring Winter
and growing spiritual fruit
The soil tending I’ve been through in recent years should produce a crop full of fruit. I hope so, anyway. I’ve seen a few small buds peek through the hard ground, seeking the sunlight, only to be trampled by life’s circumstances. It demands a massive amount of trust to believe that if I keep going, I’ll break through to see a new season of life.
I know I’ll produce fruit.
But that fruit will only come through enduring the dark of winter.
Some seasons are for rebirth and renewing. Others are for rest and growing patience within. I need to remember that often, the most growth occurs underground, where it isn’t readily seen.
The holy ground of suffering is where growth begins.
Life wins, and a new season will soon arrive. It is a season to reach farther and grow deeper than ever. There will be, and have been, challenges already. But I can feel the sun’s warmth, and I’m changed. I’ll grow and, eventually, become a fruit-producing tree even more strongly rooted in her God, her faith, her family, and the life God has called her to live.
Sometimes, new life means a dying to the old. A letting go of things God has asked you to surrender to the holy ground of suffering. Oh, but how we love to cling to the dying things.
