Growing In The Tough Seasons

Anyone who truly knows me, knows I love fall and I LOVE fall leaves. I love the colors, the falling, the crunching. I love how, for weeks on end, you wake up each day to the world painted anew in hues of gold, burgundy and vivid tangerine.

There is one tree in particular that I look forward to seeing change colors each year. It is a beautiful giant tree that must have been growing there for over fifty years, for trees don't become towers of strength and grandeur like that over night. It's vivid display of the season's bright colors make you stop and stare.

It often reminds me of another tree, however. A much smaller tree. A sapling that my brother planted many years ago in a pot for a Kindergarten science project. At the end of the year, the children were allowed to give it to someone special at their graduation. So my brother had given it to my mom. It was planted in our backyard and he watered it every day. 

The next summer, my family ended up moving from our home in Mississippi to another state. My brother was determined that the tree not be left behind, so my dad uprooted it, put it back in a pot, and it travelled with us to the next city. The only problem was that this was a rental house as we looked for a permanent home. When my parents found a house, the tree had to be uprooted again and taken to another home where it was planted alongside other trees in a beautiful backyard.

After a few years there, my family made another move to a different city, and at this point, my brother had to make a hard decision. The poor little tree had been through a lot. He could keep uprooting the tree and it might never grow to it's full potential, or he could leave it and let it thrive in good soil where it was planted. 

So he decided to let it stay rooted and grow. Even though he wouldn't be the one climbing in it's branches, other children could, and they would be able to enjoy it for years to come. 

Whenever that little tree comes to mind, I am reminded how important it is to stay rooted.

 Jeremiah says that we ares to be like .... 

“...a tree planted along a riverbank, with roots that reach deep into the water. Such trees are not bothered by the heat or worried by long months of drought. Their leaves stay green, and they never stop producing fruit.”

A tree's roots can't grow deep if it keeps being uprooted with every change of weather. That's hard to imagine in a day when change is constantly at our fingertips. Don't like the music? Change the station. Don't like the food? Pick another restaurant. Don't like the movie? Just flip through Netflix...or Hulu...or Amazon. Just move on to the next.

It's amazing how many options we have! The only problem with this, is that this kind of thinking can tend to seep over into the way we view life as a whole. 

Don't like your job? Just pick up and leave. 

Got annoyed with a friend? Move on to a new one. 

Bored with your relationship? Find someone else.

Got offended at church? Walk out and find a new place. 

And people go from relationship to relationship, job to job, church to church, and never get planted long enough to actually grow. Growth isn't always comfortable. But moving on to something "better"  or "newer" isn't always the answer. In fact, it is often this very mentality that keeps us from experiencing strong friendships, deeper relationships, and long-lasting fruit.

Jesus didn't say we are supposed to be like trees visiting a riverbank. He said we are supposed to be like trees planted by a riverbank. We are supposed to get rooted and grow. That doesn't mean we won't encounter some storms. That doesn't mean the weather at that particular riverbank will always be perfect. But often it is weathering the storms that makes us stronger. Our roots go deeper, our branches get stronger, and most importantly, we produce fruit. Fruit of a lifetime planted in good soil.

One thing I always ask when a season gets hard and I feel like moving on is, "God did I give everything into this season that I was supposed to? And did I get everything out of this season that you wanted me to?" If I  feel like the answer is "Yes," to both of those questions, then He usually gives me direction for moving to the next season.

However, if I feel like the answer is, "No," then my next prayer is, "Ok, God, this season is really hard, but I know that there is more that you are trying to teach me. Show me what those things are so that I can continue to grow, until it's time for a new season."  I can honestly say, God has done some of His very best work in my life when the answer was no. 

“God did I give everything into this season that I was supposed to? And did I get everything out of this season that you wanted me to? ”

So I encourage you, the next time things aren't going the way you want, instead of just getting up and moving on to something or someone else, consider if maybe the answer isn't to get up and move on to greener grass. Maybe, just maybe, you should stay planted and let your roots grow a little deeper.

LET ME HEAR FROM YOU!

Is there a time in your life when you wanted to move on to something else, and you felt like God said to stay?