Lessons From a Lingering Season

Growth Doesn’t Always Start in Good Soil

I took this photo years ago. At the time, I simply thought it was beautiful in a quiet, unexpected way. An old silo stood alone in an open field, its bricks worn and sun-faded, vines climbing upward where grain once filled the inside. It looked like something that had already served its purpose. Something left behind. But what stopped me wasn’t the age of the structure — it was the tree growing out of the top. Not beside it. Not at the base. Out of the top.

That silo had once been full. It had carried weight. It had held provision. It had a clear and visible purpose. And now it stood empty — at least that’s what it appeared to be. But it wasn’t lifeless. Something was still forming in a place that looked finished.

That image has stayed with me because I have lived seasons that felt just like that structure. Seasons where I knew I was built with purpose, where I had poured out what I could carry, and then everything went quiet. Not a dramatic storm. Not devastation. Just a lingering stretch of time where nothing seemed to move the way I thought it should. Lingering seasons are subtle. They don’t knock you down all at once. They slowly test your faith, your patience, and your endurance.

You keep praying. You keep believing. You keep showing up. You keep trusting God’s promises even when the visible fruit feels delayed. And if we’re honest, those are the seasons that can make you question whether anything is happening at all.

But Scripture reminds us otherwise. Galatians 6:9 tells us not to grow weary in doing good, because there is a harvest at the proper time if we do not give up. That phrase — “proper time” — implies waiting. It implies that growth often happens beneath the surface long before we see it above ground. It requires trust in what we cannot measure.

That tree growing out of brick didn’t have soft soil. It didn’t have ideal conditions. It found what little it needed in cracks and crevices. It pushed roots down into places that looked unlikely to sustain life. And somehow, against what logic would expect, it grew.

I think that’s what God does in lingering seasons. He deepens us before He elevates us. He strengthens roots before He reveals fruit. What looks like emptiness may actually be preparation. What feels like silence may actually be steady formation.

There have been moments in my own journey where I wondered if the quiet meant I had missed something. Whether the delay meant I had failed. Whether the slow unfolding meant I was forgotten. But over time, I’ve learned that silence does not equal absence. Delay does not equal denial. And empty does not mean finished.

Sometimes we mistake hidden growth for stagnation.

The silo looks abandoned. The field looks quiet. But life is still pushing upward in a place that appears worn out. That’s faith. That’s resilience. That’s trust when there is no visible applause and no immediate evidence.

In Living Faith Out Loud, I wrote about those in-between spaces — the quiet seasons where nothing looks impressive but everything is forming beneath the surface. This photo captures that reality better than I could explain it. Growth does not require perfect conditions. It requires persistence. It requires roots. It requires trust that what God plants will survive even in unlikely places.

If you are in a lingering season right now — one where you’re praying and waiting and trusting — I hope this image reminds you that growth doesn’t always start in good soil. Sometimes it begins in brick. Sometimes it pushes through cracks. Sometimes it forms in places that look empty to everyone else.

But empty and finished are not the same thing.

And just because your season feels quiet does not mean it is unproductive.

Something may be growing at the very top of what you thought was over.

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If you’re seeking more Encouragement today, you may find comfort in our Devotions or be strengthened by our Verse of The Day or Prayers, offering Scripture to carry with you throughout the day.