The Hidden Season

“Sow righteousness for yourselves, reap unfailing love. Break up your unplowed ground; it’s time to dig in with God, until He arrives with righteousness ripe for harvest.” — Hosea 10:12 (The Message)

Last week, I was so excited to head to the local nursery and pick up new seeds and bulbs to plant in my garden.

As I grabbed my keys and walked out the door, my husband casually asked, “Where are you headed?”

Without hesitation, I responded, “To the nursery.’

He laughed as he said. “You do know it’s only February 1st, right?”

Yes. I knew.

But here’s the thing—any good gardener knows that what you do in the off-season determines what you harvest in the next.

Planting doesn’t start when the flowers bloom. The gardener doesn’t just wake up one day in spring, throw some seeds on the ground, and expect a beautiful garden by summer. Trust me, I learned this the hard way.

The real work happens long before the first sign of growth.

Preparing for the Next Season

The off-season is the most important season to a gardnerer.

It’s the time for breaking up the soil, pulling out dead roots, clearing away the weeds, and making sure the ground is ready to receive what’s coming next.

It’s work. It’s messy. It’s exhausting.

But without it, the soil is too hard for new growth. The weeds choke out anything trying to take root. And nothing planted will thrive because the ground wasn’t prepared to sustain it.

And the more I thought about it, the more I realized—life works the exact same way.

We all want the harvest—the breakthrough, the growth, the answered prayers.

But are we preparing for it?

Are we putting in the work before the season changes?

Are we breaking up the hardened places in our hearts?

Are we pulling out the old habits, the toxic mindsets, the weeds that suffocate new growth?

Are we making space for God to plant something new?

Because just like a garden, we can’t expect a harvest if we haven’t prepared the soil.

If we don’t till the soil of our faith, we’ll miss what God is trying to plant in us.

If we don’t pull up the roots of past hurts, we won’t have room for new growth.

If we don’t put in the work now, we won’t be ready when the season of harvest arrives.

For so long, I felt stuck in the off-season—working, waiting, and seeing nothing change. I was exhausted from putting in the effort without any visible results, wondering if anything would ever come from it.

But a good gardener never doubts the harvest.

They don’t stop preparing the soil just because the flowers haven’t bloomed yet. They don’t rush the process or give up when it looks barren. They trust that the work they’re doing now will produce something beautiful in time.

And God is the Master Gardener.

He’s tilling the soil of my life, making it ready for something new. He’s pulling out the weeds that no longer serve me, even the ones I tried to hold onto. He’s preparing me for a harvest far greater than anything I could imagine—one that will bloom in His perfect time.

My prayer:

Heavenly Father,

Thank You for reminding me that every season has a purpose. Even when I don’t see growth, even when it feels like I’m just digging, pulling, and preparing—I trust that You are working.

Help me to be faithful in this off-season. To do the hard work of pulling out what no longer belongs, to break up the hardened places in my heart, and to prepare for the new things You are planting in me.

I trust that my harvest is coming. And I will be ready.

In Jesus’ name, Amen.