A sign outside a local business (probably a tree farm) read, “Closed for New Growth.” That sign reminded me how God sometimes slows us down in order to raise us up. In her teaching on the life of the Old Testament prophet Elijah, Bible teacher and author Priscilla Shirer points out how immediately after Elijah warned wicked King Ahab about the coming judgment of drought, God called Elijah aside. God said to him, “‘Go to the east and hide by Kerith Brook, near where it enters the Jordan River. Drink from the brook and eat what the ravens bring you, for I have commanded them to bring you food.’” (1 Kings 17:2-4 NLT) Elijah spent significant time in that dry, isolated wilderness, just him and God. But afterward, he powerfully confronted the evil of Baal worship in Israel.

Shirer says, “Sometimes the most strategic place for us to be is not where we think the real action is.” Many of us have experienced a season where, like Elijah, we’ve felt set aside and unfruitful when all we had to do was look to God. During these times of being “closed for new growth,” God prunes us and cuts off our “dead branches” if we allow him. In the process, he also prepares us for any new direction he might want our lives to take.

The Lord loves us and has promised never to forsake us. He is faithful, and he will finish what he started in us, accomplishing what he wishes for his glory and our good beyond all we could ask or imagine. If we trust him, listen to him, and obey him despite the darkness, the questions, and the loneliness of our “closed for new growth” season, we will grow deeper in him and become empowered by him. And we will sprout fresh, new spiritual life as surely as trees bud and flowers bloom in the spring. Our growth is surely eternal.

PRAYER: Dear Lord and Savior, thank you for caring enough for me to take me through dry times so that I can sprout new growth for your glory. AMEN!

Tags: love, joy, life, rest, purpose, faithfulness, vine, wilderness, abide, closed, pruning, empowered, new growth