Fall’s presence has made itself known … just look around at Walmart, Target and Costco. School supplies are on display and fully stocked. If you are a Mama of school aged kids, the “Are you prepared for Fall?” clock (sponsored by Crayola, of course) has begun ticking. Advertisements everywhere are boasting of Fall fashion lines, it’s latest trends, and the dangerous “S” word … SALES!  Fall is pushing itself through the horizon. Its presence is challenging us to be prepared, purposeful, and passionate about its debut and more importantly positioned to plow, plant and produce in the season that is meant for harvest.

You may be thinking … that’s a lot of “P” words … and it is, six to be exact. They are six powerful “P” words that I hope will inspire you to see this season differently then maybe you have before.

Recently while talking to my husband on his way home from work, as he was expressing the under currents of change he was feeling in his spirit and sharing his honest assessments of this last year, I was reminded that it was almost August and that we were in the natural transition from Summer to Fall.

Transition: noun

Movement, passage, or change from one position, state, stage, subject, concept, etc., to another; change.

Transition, that’s a loaded word for you. Full of a deep textures of emotion … and you know just what I’m talking about if you’ve ever gone through one. Whether that is moving, changing jobs, losing a loved-one, having a baby, having another baby, sending that baby off to college … dynamics change. There are not always words in the moment, but there is an awareness that life is changing it’s form right beneath your feet. What was is changing into what will be. It feels awkward and unknown.

Some transitions are scary and make demands on your faith while it is being tested. Do you believe what you say you believe? Is God who you thought He was? Deep heart inventory comes into play. A great opportunity for roots to go deeper and faith to be multiplied. Some transitions are an adventure and require flexibility like moving from state to state or to a different country. Forging new friendships in new places requires the risk of rejection while presenting the opportunity of discovering kindred relationships, which when found are treasured gifts. I have been hurt in friendship and I have been blessed, yet I can confidently say having lived both outcomes it was worth all the risks. The risk is what makes true friendship priceless. Life is full of transitions from heartbreaking to letting go, none are easy but all are a process of change. And the God of the universe wants us to know He understands that process. So much so that it’s intricately woven into His creation in the expression of the changing of seasons. You see for every natural season we experience there is a correlating spiritual season. Let’s look at all the seasons together and let the Holy Spirit’s voice fill in your life between the lines and bring greater understanding to the seasons of our hearts.

Fall is the season to rejoice in our harvest, the crop that we plowed, planted and produced with success. On the flip side it is also a time to evaluate the crops that didn’t produce like we wanted. It’s a time to honestly assess our priorities and refocus while looking candidly at why things didn’t grow or change in our lives like we set out for them too. The enemy of our souls would want to use disappointment to discourage us and rob us of the challenge of every Fall and that is … regardless of last year’s crops good or bad … it’s time to plant again! So I’m asking you to grab your seed and answer in your heart, what is it that God asking you to plant again? Is He asking you to sow selflessness and humility into your marriage? Is He asking you to sow love and forgiveness while purposely uprooting the weeds of bitterness? Is He asking you to sow patience and time into the pliable soil of your children’s hearts? Is He asking you to sow the seeds of faith and hope into the hard ground of the impossible? Or is He asking you to step outside of your comfort zone and begin walking in your giftings and destined purposes for Him? There are so many women fat and pregnant with the purposes of God in their hearts but they afraid to deliver the baby. Like Mary (the mother of Jesus) they ponder and cherish all that the Lord has said to them in their hearts (Luke 2:19) but there came a time when Mary had to have the baby … and the baby was Jesus. Don’t be afraid of giving birth to all God’s put in your heart, the world will only see Jesus, the author and finisher of the work (Hebrews 12:2). Whatever He is asking … He is capable of doing as you step out in obedience to plant again … even if you are planting against great odds.

Winter comes to question the integrity of the seed. The skies grow dark and cold. We are challenged to hold tightly in darkness to the promises and truth He shared with us in the light. We in faith stretch our roots down into the deep places unseen to the naked eye. The last leaves of our Fall rejoicing dismantle in the cold blustering winds that have stripped the trees bare leaving their branches vulnerable to the deadening chill of winter. And the truth is winter makes a certain amount of death inevitable (1 Corinthians 15:36). But it is the death that separates what is not God from what is. It takes great heart courage to let go of the many plans in our hearts so that the Lord’s purpose prevails (Prov. 19:21) Winter is a season of choices … choose not to give up because … Spring is on it’s way!

Spring is the celebration of new life best penned in Song of Solomon 2:10-12:

My lover spoke and said to me, “Arise, my darling, my beautiful one, and come with me. See! The winter is past; the rains are over and gone. Flowers appear on the earth; the season of singing has come, the cooing of doves is heard in our land.

The cold winter gives way to the ever-wooing warmth of spring as pictured by the fresh sprouts of new life bursting forth from the cracked dry land. The manifestation of roots systems that were strengthened underground and out of sight now are on full display but still in need of watering and nurture. Spring is the season of nursing our dreams with the purpose of maturity. Maturity is the fruit that can be eaten and multiplied. Although great rejoicing comes with new life … just like with newborn babes, attentiveness and work are still necessary. We revel in God’s faithfulness to see us through the night and bring us into new life even through death as he leads us into a season of refreshing.

Summer the season of refreshing and rest. I love that God loves rest and being a Mama of four, rest has become essential in being refueled to fulfill that purpose. God rested on the seventh day, the number seven means completion and perfection. There is something perfecting about resting in who God is, what He has accomplished as we’ve partnered with Him through the seasons. Summer is a time to rest in and wait on God and the unveiling of the coming harvest. It always seems I long for summer and once I’m refreshed I eagerly anticipate Fall as my heart longs to focus on purpose again.

I begin to get prepared for fall by being purposeful about my seed and getting passionate about how I’m going to sow it. It’s almost that time again friends … time to get positioned to plow, plant and produce for a harvest. A harvest that will feed our faith, family, and community with mature fruit that was tested and tried by the seasons and meant to multiply. So I’ll ask you again as you prepare for the Fall, maybe like me with a basket full of school supplies and a new pair of Fall boots (on sale of course), what is the Holy Spirit saying to you about your seed? How are your going to plant differently after assessing your crops? Don’t be discouraged by the past … BE encouraged with seed in hand … it’s time to plant again!!! Let’s pray and agree together for a fabulously fruitful Fall!

Hosea 10:12 Sow for yourselves righteousness, reap the fruit of unfailing love, and break up your unplowed ground; for it is time to seek the LORD, until he comes and showers righteousness on you.

Lord,

I break up my unplowed ground in preparation for the season of Fall as it comes upon my heart. Show me where and how you want me to sow my seed. My seed of faith, hope, stepping out, stepping up … I want to honor you with the harvest of my heart and the fullness of my life. Help me to find you in every transition of life anchored in the truth, my world may change but YOU don’t. You are steadfast and unfailingly faithful. I declare over myself and my seed … YOU are for me! Multiply your love in every area of my life in Jesus name! AMEN!

Marissa Star

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