Winter in the Garden

A peaceful quiet had descended on my home. The crowds and chaos and cooking and cleaning that mark the holidays are over. The decorations still adorn my home, but they are waiting to return to the attic.

Even my garden is quiet and at rest. Despite the onions growing in my yard and the scapes escaping from my garlic, the cardboard is keeping my garden at rest. Like black-out blinds.

Sleep is necessary, rest is necessary, down-time is necessary. Even when the world gives me excessive stimulation. Even when the temperatures reach the 60s in the winter. Even when I sense I should be “doing something” in the quiet times.

I am doing something, just like my garden is doing something. I am resting. I am processing what has come before and thinking about what is to come. I am slowing my heart rate and lowering my blood pressure. I am resting my muscles and allowing myself to heal.

He (Jesus) said to them, “Come away to a deserted place all by yourselves and rest a while.” For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat. Mark 6:21.

Winter is a time when the garden replenishes itself. Potassium and phosphorus from deep in the ground rise to replace the nutrients used by the summer plants. Beneficial micro-organisms have time to develop away from the demands of growing plants. The fallow ground regains its nutritional balance after a summer of feeding growing plants. Winter rest is like Gatorade for the garden, restoring its essential minerals.

Winter rest for the garden is the model for Sabbath rest for us.

Six days shall work be done, but on the seventh day you shall have a holy sabbath of solemn rest to the Lord. Exodus 35:2.

The garden needs to rest before I can ask more of it in the spring and summer. I need to rest before God asks more of me. This time of rest increases the likelihood that the garden, and I, will bear good fruit in season.

January is a wonderful time to ‘catch up’ on our rest. Let our batteries re-charge. Let those little whispers from God rise to the surface and replenish our lives. Let us regain our spiritual balance. Let us adjust to the presence of the living Lord in human form as Jesus and ever-present as the Holy Spirit.

Sometimes, we need to force this rest upon ourselves. We may need to put down cardboard to suppress outside distractions. We may need to close the blackout blinds. We are not energizer bunnies; sometimes we need to turn ourselves off. Sometimes we are like the screaming toddler who refuses nap time, when nap time is exactly what we need.

It’s a new year. Our calendars still have space on them. There is much that could happen, may happen, will happen. There are surprises, good and bad, ahead. I encourage you, as I encourage myself, to take this time to rest. God has got this. Put yourself in His hands, read His Word, listen to His voice, follow His guidance. God will put you where He wants you; God will put me where He wants me. For now, let me rest so I am ready.

Return, O my soul, to your rest, for the Lord has dealt bountifully with you. Psalm 116:7.

Happy New Year!

Betsy