Fall has finally arrived here in rural Missouri where I live. The temperatures are dipping down near freezing at night, the leaves are beginning to blush with red and orange, and the sky is full of that autumnal blue that hurts your eyes with its clarity. The cotton fields behind our church building are ready to be harvested of their southern snow, and we are feeling the closeness of shorter days and longer nights.
Like most folks who live in climates where summer feels endless with its oppressive heat, humidity, and mosquitoes, I long for fall and the changes it brings. The changing of seasons is a gift from God, and the knowledge that man can’t change the earth’s orbit around the sun comforts me. I am not a fan of summer, and I love that no matter what–fall will come. The dependability of the created order reminds me that God is always in control.
As the leaves have begun to dry and crackle, I’ve struggled to pull myself out of a particularly dry spiritual season. The Scriptures are always rich, and while I’ve filled myself with them personally, in a study group setting, and in corporate worship, my heart has struggled to find the accompanying emotions I desire.
Life as a believer is like that sometimes, isn’t it? You’re doing all the “right” things, but you can’t seem to make your emotions catch up with the cerebral part of it. Loving the Lord with all your heart and soul feels as far-fetched as making the seasons change on a whim. What do we do when our hearts crackle with the dryness of the October leaves beneath our feet?
Don’t Abandon Your Disciplines
When you feel bored with your spiritual disciplines and church attendance, it’s tempting to throw in the towel or take a break. Surely something new will help, right? Spiritual dry spells are difficult to explain, but the cure is never found in abandoning the daily expressions of faith in Christ like Bible intake, prayer, and gathering with other believers. You don’t need something new; you need to keep persevering in the old stuff. The Scriptures will always be what we need to nourish our faith and to hold fast to the Word. Regular investment in your local body of believers will always be one of the ways God sanctifies, encourages, corrects, and edifies you.
Paul writes in 1 Timothy that we should be nourished by the words of the faith and to train ourselves in godliness for the eternal benefit it brings (1 Tim. 4). Our hope is in God who has provided salvation in Christ. There isn’t another option for growing in holiness. We become what we behold, and in order to become more like Christ, we must continually fix our gaze on Him even (and especially) when we don’t want to. The author of Hebrews encourages us similarly to hold fast to our confession of hope by committing to the body of Christ so that we endure and do not draw back (see Heb. 10).
Don’t let your emotions or lack thereof dictate whether or not you’ll continue to fix your gaze on Christ. Love the Lord with your mind so that you can eventually love Him with your heart. If you wait to pray and read the Bible or attend church when your emotions tell you to, you might not come at all. When you feel dry and ready for a kind of spiritual hibernation to escape your lack of love, flip that inner monologue on its head and let Scripture inform your emotions, not the other way around. Here’s the thing about seasons: they’re seasons. And seasons change. You won’t be here forever. Take heart that another season will come along, but until it does, keep feeding your faithfulness with God’s Word and the encouragement of God’s people.
Know that Your Limping Matters
While I love fall, the bleakness of winter in the flat plains of southeast Missouri harbors very little beauty. We don’t get much snow, and there’s not a hill in sight. It’s a vast expanse of leafless trees and fields emptied of their crops. In winter, everything looks dead. But I know if I wait until spring, those stark, empty trees will carry a whisper of green that speaks of the life that’s been running through their limbs all winter. The miles of farmland will mist with the beginnings of next fall’s harvest, and we’ll know that what seemed dead was really just waiting for spring.
Perseverance and waiting are written into the natural order, and I think we can draw encouragement from the act of waiting. We might feel we’re limping through difficult seasons of suffering or the emotionless periods of apathy, but your limping really matters because the Lord is wringing perseverance out of you while you struggle through the obstacles to growth. It’s discouraging to feel like you’re fighting for growth you can’t see. But, one day, maybe ten years from now or thirty, you’ll look back at the gritty pressing forward you did during this season, and you’ll see how the Lord cultivated perseverance when you couldn’t see it. Keep pressing forward doing what you know and take confidence in the unseen work of God. Soak your dry heart in the Scriptures, pray with all your heart when you don’t want to, and find your place in the pew every time your church’s doors are open. One day the rain will come, the ice will thaw, and you’ll know the Lord was with you while you waited for the seasons to change.
Maybe ten years from now or thirty, you’ll look back at the gritty pressing forward you did during this season, and you’ll see how the Lord cultivated perseverance when you couldn’t see it. Share on XJohn Calvin wrote “Indeed, most of us are so oppressed with weakness that we make little progress–staggering, limping, and crawling on the ground. But let us move forward according to the measure of our resources and pursue the path we have begun to walk. None of us will move forward with so little success that we will not make some daily progress in the way. Therefore, let us keep trying so that we might continually make some gains in the way of the Lord, and neither let us despair over how small our successes are.1”
Small successes are still successes. Growth is hard to measure up close, but over time you can see it. Jesus’ brother James said that “endurance must do its complete work, so that you may be mature and complete, lacking nothing” (1:4). Maturity in Christ might be born of the perseverance you learn when your heart resists but you obey anyway.
Know that God is Invested in Your Perseverance
When it comes to perseverance, you’re not left completely to your own devices. While we work out our salvation with fear and trembling, God is the One working in us (see Phil. 2:12-13) One day the Lord will “personally restore, establish, strengthen, and support you after you have suffered a little (1 Peter 5:10).” We have been given everything we need in Christ, and the Lord will complete His work in you.
Keep stepping forward in the things that will feed your faith. Read your Bible. Pray. Meet with believers. Press on with your hope anchored in the One in whom all things hold together. Every changing season hinges upon His faithfulness.
1John Calvin. A Little Book on the Christian Life. p.16
Photo by Steven HWG on Unsplash
Glenna Marshall is married to her pastor, William, and lives in rural Southeast Missouri where she tries and fails to keep up with her two energetic sons. She is the author of The Promise is His Presence (P&R) and Everyday Faithfulness (Crossway), and Memorizing Scripture (Moody). Connect with her on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.
What a timely word for me! Know that God directly used you to speak to me today. Thank you!
I’m so glad, Sharon! Thank you for sharing and keep pressing on.
God is invested in my perseverance. I’m treasuring this.
Isn’t that such a comforting thought!?