His Grace in the Sameness

I've been trying to pull my thoughts together over the past few weeks to see if there is enough material for a post because right now, it's fall outside and in my life.  Activities that I used to participate in have dried up and fallen away for various reasons, which is why the November 7 devotional in Jesus Calling spoke to me:

. . . My main work is to clear out debris and clutter, making room for My Spirit to take full possession.  Collaborate with Me in this effort by being willing to let go of anything I choose to take away.  I know what you need, and I have promised to provide all of that--abundantly!

Your sense of security must not rest in your possessions or in things going your way.  I am training you to depend on Me alone, finding fulfillment in My Presence.  This entails being satisfied with much or with little, accepting either as My will for the moment.  Instead of grasping and controlling, you are learning to release and receive.  . . .

Last week, the Lord gave me a visual for what I've been feeling.  I have a plant outside my front door that had blooms on it when I bought it in June, but then they all fell off a few weeks later.  It didn't have flowers on it for the rest of the summer.  This is about par for my ability to keep plants alive for long during the summer months.  But because there were portions of the plant that were still green, though there were no buds, I kept watering it weekly.  And last week, I went outside and saw this:

  

It encouraged me that God is still at work even when things don't look fruitful on the outside for months at a time.  This is a lesson that His creation reflects each spring, but the plant outside my front door was a pleasant reminder - that some things bloom in the fall when everything else is going dormant for the winter. 

Whatever season you are in, may the Lord encourage you that He is still at work and that He hasn't forgotten about you.