Should I pursue this change or not right now, that is the question. Recently, I attended a tree-planting event at my local park. A certified arborist came to teach us the proper methods for planting trees. While I learned a lot about transplanting that day in the park, it became the language I needed to articulate a recurring theme in my very real life.

So often, I have a good idea. I plant it and pray over it, but it doesn’t seem to grow. Or, my idea might grow, but it’s crooked, is unhealthy or lacks stability to handle challenges or seasonal changes. Inevitably, trials or tests will come to strengthen or tear down that which has been planted. Sometimes, I plant trees in a season when I can’t realistically tend them as they need, so they grow poorly, wither, and even die.

Planting in Light of the Season

I was surprised to learn that there is no off-limit season to planting a tree. It’s simply a matter of what the sapling needs in each season. According to the teacher, fall is the most ideal season, with spring a close second. Frigid winter is not off limits, and neither is hot and dry summer. However, winter and summer come with their own challenges, and we’re often not prepared to tend to our trees in such needy climates.

“There is an occasion for everything,” the preacher of Ecclesiastes says. “…and a time for every activity under heaven: a time to give birth and a time to die; a time to plant and a time to uproot; a time to kill and a time to heal; a time to tear down and a time to build.”

Real Life Planting

At the beginning of summer (personally, my most challenging season as a mom of three kids) I joined good forces to bring about good things for my community. You could say, I planted a new tree in the heat of summer. I was overwhelmed trying to care for it. In an already challenging season, I had little to no time to enjoy or care for the trees I had already planted. I was withering in the heat of summer. If things continued as they were, I would have no nutrients to store for winter.

Ugh! Where did I go wrong? How did I get here? Again! Surely after 36 years of planting trees I would be good at this by now! (You might have seen this coming from the start, but I’m always so surprised at my making the same mistake again and again). God is so patient and gracious. He knows that we are dust. He sanctifies us according to His ways, His plans, and His timing. In the end, we are trophies of His grace, not the great things we have done for Him.

Next Time You’re offered a Sapling

1. Rejoice in the trees you’ve already planted. Behold their beauty, their growth, their fruit. Give thanks and enjoy what you already have. Be sure those trees are tended and pruned to produce more fruit.
2. Evaluate the season. What kind of season are you in? On the scale of ideal times to plant a tree, are you in the fall, spring, winter or summer?
3. Consider whether you have the time and resources to plant and take care of another tree in this season.
4. Choose in the fear of the LORD. There is a time for everything.
5. Let’s pray to grow in wisdom and consider the seasons before we dig the next hole.

What “trees” have you already planted, and what are you enjoying about them? Share in the comments below! If you are considering a change to pursue, message me in private so that I can pray for you.

Special thanks to my husband, Eric, who gave valuable feedback and editing techniques for this piece.

Sources:

(Christian Standard Bible,2017, Ecclesiastes 3:1–3)

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