The Dormant Season

In the vineyard, the glory of harvest is over. The fruit is gone, the celebration is over. The leaves have turned yellow and are now completely gone from the Pinot Noir and Pinot Gris plants. The old fruiting vines appear like dead sticks interwoven in the trellis wires. Some of the vines have broken off, while others are split from being bent and twisted during the harvest of the fruit. The branches have done their job for the season, they have produced some wonderful fruit. From the exterior, the plants appear to have no signs of life - it seems barren and dead. But something is going on underground, the roots are growing and storing up the necessary energy for the next growing season - culminating in next years harvest. But right now, this is the dormant season - the season of rest.

Does this description of the dormant vineyard seem like your spiritual life right now? Do you not see any fruit being produced? Do you feel not connected to God? Do you feel no warmth, is there nothing going on?

Maybe you are in a dormant season - a season of rest. Maybe this is your time to let the celebration of the harvest and the fruit you previously produced go. Although nothing appears to be going on in your life from the outside, maybe this is your time to get deep with God. Just you and God, sinking your roots deep and growing them, so that you have the energy and endurance for the change in season to come. The production of the very best fruit and the harvest in the vineyard cannot happen without the dormant season. The future production of fruit and the glorious harvest cannot happen in your spiritual life either without the dormant season - the season of rest and recovery.

Seasons in ministry and seasons in the vineyard are not open-ended. Remember, He is in charge of the seasons - embrace them and stay connected to the vine.

"I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing"
John 15:5