ROOTED RENEGADE

What you see as dead and fallen, the Father sees as alive and going to rise again.  During this time of year the trees start to shed their leaves after they change colors.  Eventually all the leaves will fall and the trees will look as though they are dying as they enter a dormant season of their life.  Branches may even start to fall during winter months as the weight of snow and ice take their toll on the limbs as their frailty cannot bear to hold it thereby causing it to snap under the pressure of trying to remain strong.

For many people who pass by day after day the same scenery their perception goes from just a changing of the seasons to wondering if the tree will ever sustain growth again.  Some may never give it a second thought while others, like myself may find deeper meaning.  I have found, while during my recovery process, also in teaching others, that the Father puts us in dormant seasons much like the trees and nature.  The winter months provide them with a time of healing and regeneration.  While on the outside they loose their beauty, the splendor, and colorful decorations.  On the inside they are being nourished in ways we cannot see.  Water is supplied through the roots which keeps it alive and thriving through harsh winter months so that when spring comes it can begin to grow again and sprout new leaves, flowers, and more.

Take some time today or even this week…as you see the remaining leaves fall from the trees, the weather turn colder, and things start to look “dead and barren” around you…to really ask intentionally of the Lord, what areas of my life seem to be “dead and barren” yet you are protecting through dormancy?

We are so quick at times to think something has passed us by, like an opportunity.  We are quick to believe that what God has promised won’t come to pass or that we are too old for certain assignments.  Sara, Abrahams’ wife was not too old or too barren for the Lord God to bless her womb with promise and purpose and generational inheritance.  He opened her womb and she bore a child for Abraham…once her dormant season had ended.  She had to go through the season in order to get to the promise.  And despite her complaints and trying to go around the valley instead of through it, the promise never changed.  God’s word was not void it was active and it did accomplish what it set out to do in hers and Abrahams life.  Isaac was born and just as God’s word delivered through the angel promised.  Read Genesis 17:15-27.

The dormant season has purpose.  It protects. It keeps. It holds. It nourishes. It provides. It replenishes. It renews.

Don’t negate your dormant season.  Don’t get impatient like Sara and try to hurry the promise along.  Allow God’s work to be complete in you in His timing…not yours.

I encourage you today to sit with those questions.  Wrestle with them if you need to (God is not afraid of your wrestling).  But don’t run from them.  Don’t forget them.  Don’t stuff them.  Don’t pretend like they don’t exist.  Now is the time to process in the dormancy.  The promise is coming!  God’s word is alive and active – never void.

My prayer is that you don’t ignore another dormant season for what it is.  That you sit with it and take the time you need with the Lord.  Remember there is purpose in it and that the promises are never late.

Be encouraged friends, Faythe

P.s. Interestingly enough I had started this post in September of 2018 and didn’t finish it until today.  I love how God works!