The Blessing of Forced Rest

Since landing in the UK three weeks ago, snow has been on the ground constantly.  Whilst pretty, the snow has hampered our ability to move around and the cold has forced us inside. We have been made to stop, to rest, to do nothing.  Some of our plans have been called off.  We have been unable to see friends we had planned to see.

 Yet, I know that this is God’s blessing to us. 

 Seeing the white snow is a constant reminder of the rest forced upon us.  A cold but comforting blanket of protection on our lives.

It made me think: what is happening to the plants and trees faced with freezing temperatures? They have gone dormant.  I discovered that certain plants die above ground and the only growth that happens is below the surface.  The bulb and root systems become hardier, and when the warm weather comes again they grow back faster and the plant is healthier.

 Thinking of Biblical rest I thought of the command in Leviticus 25 to leave fields to fallow every seven years.  Today we know that fields that are left fallow like this, have better soil, natural fertilizers, rebalanced chemical levels and produce healthier crops when made productive again. 

 But lack of productivity is uncomfortable.  It feels lazy and against everything we are taught by our striving western culture. 

But I am choosing to embrace it because I know that this is God preparing me for future fruitfulness.  It is a time where he is strengthening root structures and turning over the soil.  A time he is using to re-balance elements of my life.

Now when I look at the snow, I think of the strengthening that is going on out of sight.  And I thank God that that is happening in my life too.