December 2019
“Why do the leaves keep falling off?” I said to myself.
Earlier this fall, my wife took some of the plants from our screened-in porch and found a spot for them inside. Others she cast into the outer darkness of the garage. It made no sense to me. Didn’t she know what would happen?
Sure enough, as the days got colder, some of these beautiful plants we had watered and cared for all summer began to wither. When Halloween night fell to freezing, I couldn’t take it anymore. With a big red “S” on my chest, I rescued one of the largest plants still hanging on to half its leaves and began to nurse it to health. I gave it a prime spot for sunlight, watered it religiously, and may have even talked to it (but there’s no video evidence).
About three weeks later, it came back. Sort of. New leaves emerged, but other leaves that appeared healthy and green kept falling. Sometimes whole stems would drop to the floor. It looked like a Charlie Brown Christmas tree. Something was wrong. I felt like I was failing.
This scenario went on for weeks until one morning Leanne saw the dismay on my face and announced unceremoniously, “They’re annuals. They are not perennials.”
I said, “Oh.”
What are you trying to keep alive forever that was only intended for a season?
A relationship, a group, a job, a leadership position, a church? God knows you’ve tried, but no matter what you do, you can’t pump new life into it. You feel like you’ve failed. But maybe it wasn’t meant to be forever.
All living things have a lifecycle. They are born, they grow, they mature, and they die. But we’re not crazy about that. We struggle with endings, so we often try to extend something beyond its natural lifespan. With the best of intentions, we swoop in to save the day. We coddle and nurse what has meant so much to us, hoping we can prop it up long past its expiration date. Only when we loosen our grip can we hear Wisdom whisper, “For everything, there is a season.”
As we come to the end of 2019, is there anything you need to let die? Deep down you know it’s run its course, but you are having a hard time letting go. It has meant so much to you, brought so much joy, you just want it to stay the same forever. But it can’t. It was never meant to. It was only intended for a season.
Letting go of something we love that is losing its leaves is painful, but it’s the only way to new life. Death is the necessary prelude to resurrection. The promise God tucked away in seasons is that every so often, we have a chance to start fresh. We only have to take off our “S” and let the good thing we’ve known gracefully come to an end.
Roger Ross
P.S. Want to know the latest prayer need? Text KINGDOM to 573-227-6557, and you will receive a weekly Prayer Text. Thanks!
Praying daily for the grace needed to start new places for new people
and transform existing churches across Missouri.
Feel free to pray for a different area each day. Thanks for your prayers!
- SUNDAY: Let’s pray together: Lord, multiply your Kingdom through us.
- MONDAY: THANK GOD for multiplication growth in our Prayer Team! We are SO grateful for 1,009 people praying daily & weekly (by text), representing over 350 churches!!(More prayer releases more power!)
- TUESDAY: Sow in prayer the seeds for a Great Awakening in our churches, communities and nation. Pray for the 11 churches in Missouri in our new Multiplying Kingdom Impact (MKI) consultation process. Ask the Lord Jesus to reveal new insights and ways of being that transform each church.
- WEDNESDAY: Thank the Holy Spirit for a fantastic year for the 47 laypersons and pastors in the Planting Academy! Let’s pray for at least 30 people to participate in the next Planting Academy beginning February 2020. Petition the Holy Spirit to teach us how to live and minister in his gifts and power.
- THURSDAY: Hold before the Lord these churches that are starting something new in 2019-20: Woods Chapel Raytown site restarted on March 3 and Eureka UMC 2nd site in the Spring of 2020. Good Shepherd UMC in 2020. Church of the Shepherd UMC in 2020. North Cross UMC is discerning their next steps regarding a 2nd site.
- FRIDAY: Seek God’s will to reveal clear next steps for the United Methodist Church around the world and for our Missouri Conference. Pray: Lord, give us a kind spirit of cooperation to create a new future.?
- SATURDAY: PRAISE GOD for our new CE staff team of Geoff Posegate, Melanie Smollen, Tammy Calcote and Roger Ross. As we head into December, please…
- Invite the Holy Spirit to move in each of the “How to Connect New People to Christ” workshops being offered in each of our 9 Districts. As of December 1, 21 of at least 27 workshops have taken place.
- Ask God to spiritually prepare each of our 9 District Innovation Teams to lead these workshops, and for pastors and lay leaders to be inspired to engage in a 6-week study in their church on the book Hero Maker: Five Essential Practices for Leaders to Multiply Leaders.
