Have you ever wanted to just stop the world and get off?
Just take a break from life, itself?
Well sometimes I manage to do this, even when it’s sort of hard to do. I can tell you though, not everyone is my home is pleased when this happens. I am an introvert, and because I am, I really enjoy being by myself. I don’t need ten or even two people around me, just me, myself and I are enough! But living like a hermit is not really realistic, is it?
Yes, this has been my life.
I get home from work sometimes and I am so wound up, I don’t wind down again until about seven thirty… two and a half hours after I get off. It can be hard sometimes doing the work I do, but I really do love it. I love it so much, in fact, I consider it worth it, in this season to endure. I feel sometimes like it’s a gleaning season.
So , what’s a gleaning season?
It’s a time to reap. I gleaning season is a season you are in just gaining what you will need for that season, in order to sift through what’s needed for the best assignment yet. It’s harvesting time.
(I started writing this several months ago, not really aware of where I was headed.) I just came home and fell into writing,,, and was was just babbling away. That’s where this crazy title for this post came from.
Some things in life happen to us and are meant to set us free, not for you to forever keep us focused on the present. I wrote the first half this post before I even knew I would be making major transitions in my life and lifestyle. I really did come home at one point, and wanted to throw in the towel. I knew that what I was feeling was not ultimately the worst way to feel, but I was not quitter. I really didn’t see how I could go on, either. I just determined that I would endure. I called upon every ounce of sheer determination I could gather. Once I made up my mind to endure, the journey became more settled. I became more focused on being still and knowing that He was God. Because I couldn’t do this in my own strength.
There’s a few scriptures in Psalm 46 :1, 5, and 10 that says:” God is our refuge and strength… a very present help in the time of trouble,…God is in the midst of her and she shall not be moved….be still and know that I am God.
Talk about someone holding on to every word imaginable! This was a season to do just that. Every time I thought about giving up, I just came back to that word, and it would fill me with this crazy sense of peace, the load would lighten, and I would be fine, again.
Still gleaning.
Where are your seasons of gleaning and reaping? Have you acknowledged them in life, or do you solemnly ignore them and try to press on through in angst, frustration and fear? Perhaps they are seasons to mature you. Have you thought about when you were in this season before, and now, look back with a new mindset – one that says -” I made it over, and this too shall pass, because look at what blessings I now have in life!”
When was your last gleaning or reaping season? Did you realize you were in it when it was happening?