Colleen James

Tag: nature

  • A Season for Rest

    Photo from Pexels.com of a snowy path through trees

    Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.”

    Matthew 11:28-29

    It’s cold outside, which isn’t necessarily a given on these winter days in southern Texas. The trees have lost their leaves, and there is a general sense of dreariness outdoors, but I don’t mind it. Not this year, at least. This type of weather reminds me of my need to do what much of nature is doing on this side of the hemisphere—rest.

    Both Sunday school and the church service touched on this theme over a week ago, and I’m finding it in the verses I’ve been reading during my quiet time as of late.

    Cease from striving. Be still and know that He is God. Rest in Him.

    I generally jump into each new year with a lot of zest and a list of goals that I tend to only half-finish. This year, not only did I make the big list of goals, but I also started packing in anticipation of our move come May.

    A few weeks later, however, I’ve found myself scaling back on all the things I want to accomplish this year, and I’ve already unpacked some of the items I had stored away. The truth is, after a busy fall semester of book readings and farmers markets and all the daily tasks as a wife and mom, I’m tired, and I need a break.

    As I find myself in this slower season, I see God’s wisdom to have created this world with physical seasons—seasons to rest, to plant, to nurture and grow, and then to reap a harvest. And as I consider these seasons, I can’t help but think that our lives ought to follow a similar pattern too.

    We certainly see these different seasons in our lives at different times. As I grow older, however, I’m finding beauty in the idea of starting the new year at a slower pace, with lots of time to reflect on the past year and to prayerfully consider what God might desire for me this new year. To rest, just like nature is doing now.

    There will be plenty of time to tackle the projects ahead and to pack and prepare for a move come this spring. Perhaps the best way to prepare for the busyness ahead, however, is to find rest in the LORD and to physically rest as I commune with Him this winter season. After all, God created each physical season on purpose and for a reason. If the winter season that nature is given helps to lead to greater growth in the spring, then how much more do we need that time of rest and restoration so that we can experience abundant growth in our own personal seasons of spring! Let’s not take for granted the winter seasons God gives us. They happen to us on purpose and for a reason. Let’s take advantage of them to rest, reflect, and deepen our relationship with God.

    For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven.”

    Ecclesiastes 3:1 ESV

  • Blooming Bushes

    Liam and I skipped our daily walk a few days ago, but when we resumed it the following morning, I was delighted to see that all of the green bushes bordering the pathway were bursting forth in full color with hundreds of tiny, purple blossoms.

    It was a good reminder to me that life doesn’t always just suddenly change for the worse. It can change for the better, too.

    There are plenty of present-day examples of this–an engagement or beginning of life as a married couple, a positive pregnancy test, a new job, a promotion, a move to a new city (or new residence, for that matter), or a granted scholarship promising further education and adventures to come. Life is full of positive changes, some more unexpected than others.

    As I think about how quickly circumstances can change, I’m hopeful in knowing that this year can swifty improve as well.

    The truth is, all our present trials are like an insect under God’s foot. He could squash them whenever He chooses. He doesn’t need the strategies we have worked so hard to implement this year nor the remedies or solutions that we are currently striving to find.

    It would be nothing to Him to cause these present problems to dissipate.  He is God, and there is no one or no thing more powerful than Him.

    Nonetheless,  He has allowed these current difficulties to continue for this season for His good purposes, and we have to choose to believe that and to fuel our faith in the beauty that He is bringing out of ashes. I know I’ve heard several stories about individuals placing their faith in Jesus as a result of these present trials. I’m so thankful that people are finding new life in Christ in the midst of a year that is so focused on sickness and death.

    Still, I’m encouraged to pray that the fullness of God’s work through this pandemic will come to a completion soon, and I’m hopeful that its end will be just as unexpected and beautiful as the purple blossoms on all those blooming  bushes.