Dormant Season

Have you ever felt suspended in the timeline of your life? Like God has just left you hanging there; waiting for the next phase, step or season. I have been there, in fact, my family is right there right now. I’m a big picture kind of person. I’m a planner, thinker, and checklist kind of person. If you are the same, you can attest to the feeling of having to blindly trust in the Lord for His will to be done in your life when He doesn’t lay it all out there for you. Wouldn’t that just be amazing to open your calendar one day to find that God filled in all the dates? Unfortunately, He doesn’t work like that, BUT we can be confident that He does have it all figured out already.

In Matthew 6:8, we see that our Father knows exactly what we need even before we ask Him. Sometimes we need to remind ourselves that our Father is all-knowing or omniscient, and that nothing goes unnoticed by Him. He has the power and ability to know absolutely everything about us, even our needs!! 

Jer. 29:11 says that He knows the plans He has for us, and they are plans to prosper us. That means He doesn’t only have it figured out, but He’s got something good in store for us. 

This verse amazes me. Out of everyone in the universe, He knows the plans He has for ME. 
The plan(s). 
Plural!! 
So He has a plan for my family right now and next year and the years to come. He has it all figured out, so when we feel stuck, we actually aren’t, because He isn’t stuck on what to do with us next.

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He’s in control and He’s got good things in store for you and for me and for our families. Don’t ever lose sight of that! I guess that’s where the verse that tells us to walk by faith and not by sight comes into play (2 Corinthians 5:7). Our trust in the Lord is not based on our current circumstances. Our trust in our Father should be based upon His promises and His faithfulness. 

So if He does have a plan for your life, and if you are never truly “stuck” then what is happening when your life's progress seems to come to a halt? 

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God often speaks to me and teaches me through nature. God’s handiwork is so easily seen through His creation, or as my girls like to call it- God’s Playground.
It’s something I can enjoy with my family, or it’s something I can enjoy solo and find so much peace with it. Sometimes I even water my plants at 11PM, and find it to be so relaxing. The perfect way to end a busy day.  
When my husband and I got married, I wanted to create a beautiful landscaped area in front of our house. This was our first place together, and I felt that it needed to be pretty and welcoming. So I went to work planting all kinds of pretty flowers and plants. I made the mistake of planting a rose bush in the center of a pot with tiny ferns all around it. I didn’t realize that the ferns would grow so large. They ended up choking the rosebush which seemed to kill it. It turned brown and ugly, lost its leaves and didn’t produce any roses, so I cut it down as far as I could because I knew if I pulled it up, it would pull up my ferns as well. 
Years went by, 4 years to be exact, and I never saw sight of the rosebush again. In fact, I completely forgot about it. The fern was beautiful, green and luscious . 
A few months ago, in February 2021, winter storm Uri came through Texas with a fierceness. It destroyed a lot of plants, trees, and greenery. Even though my husband and I worked hard to cover as many plants as we could, my plants couldn’t stand up to the freezing weather. Uri left everything looking pretty dull and dead. 

Weeks later, I decided to cut away the dead plants, replant some, and fertilize the ones that were barely hanging on. When I began to cut away the dead ferns, I was shocked to find a tiny rosebush growing bright and green; rising up from the dullness around it. The “dead” rosebush I had cut down FOUR years ago, was growing!!! How can that even be possible? I had never seen anything like it. I got so excited. What a comeback! 

Later that evening when I was getting ready for bed, God spoke to me and showed me something super cool!! You see, sometimes we are in dormant seasons. Seasons that seem dull and even possibly dead. Times in life where we don’t seem to be thriving or producing much fruit. But dormant does not mean dead! The Webster’s Dictionary describes dormancy as a time of being “temporarily inactive.”  Key word: Temporarily!! 

Our dormant seasons are only temporary. 

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Maybe it’s a lot of closed doors or “no’s" that you are dealing with.  Maybe things just are not working out in your favor. Maybe you are waiting and believing for something that you have been waiting on for a long time and discouragement is setting in.
Where is the end?
When will you rise out of the dirt, so to speak, just like the little rosebush?  
Of course in our hearts we know that God has a plan and He will see us through, but WHEN? 

Never lose heart! God’s timing is perfect! 

King David went through a dormant season too. He was appointed king at the age of 17, but little did he know, this prophecy wouldn’t come until he reached the age of 30. That’s a long waiting period. During that time of “dormancy” God basically put David through a training period. To the physical eye, it seemed that God may have forgotten his projection for David to be king. In this time of waiting, David faced many trials and hardships that forced him to grow his faith and trust in the Lord. This was crucial in his reign as king, but until that happened, David had to put full trust that the Lord would fulfill His promise. This is the same thing we have to do as well. Whatever you’re facing today, God has a promise for it in His Word. Find it, search it out, and hold God to it; believing that He is faithful who promised (Hebrews 10:23). 

What exactly was David doing during his dormant season? His faith was growing stronger. He was becoming more powerful spiritually.  He was allowing God to prepare him. 

What was the rosebush doing under the soil and ferns for 4 years? It was soaking up the water and nutrients from the soil. It was taking in any fertilizer I was giving the fern. It was waiting for the right time to erupt from the dirt stronger than ever. When the fern couldn’t take the weather, the rosebush came shooting forth, prepared to grow and thrive! Now that we are in April, this little, mighty rosebush is growing, flourishing, and guess what….producing! I have little rosebuds on it. It’s just so incredible. 

The dormant season was not wasted for the rosebush. The dormant season was certainly not a waste for King David. And the dormant season you are in will not be wasted either!!! 

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Just like an archer pulls an arrow back even though the arrow is meant to plunge forward, God is pulling you in what seems to be a backward position. But what happens when the archer pauses, focuses, finds the target, and releases the arrow? He hits the bull’s eye! God is pulling you backwards only to pause you, fix your focus, find your target or vision, and when the time is right, He’s going to release you into a brand new season; fully prepared and ready to hit the mark on His timeline for your life. 

If this encouraged you today, please leave me a comment and don’t forget to share!!


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