Recently, I was talking to a brand new church planter. He was excited, anticipating what lay ahead for him.

He asked me, “What is one thing you know now that you wished you would’ve known when you first planted a church?”

I had to think. There are lots of things I wish I would’ve known. I wish I would’ve taken to heart rhythms and pace personally. That I would’ve poured more into my soul than leadership insight, that I would’ve put more emphasis on individual conversations instead of big numbers.

After a minute, I said, “I wish I would’ve understood that when it looks like nothing is happening, that something is happening.”

I grew up in a farming community, and farmers understand that there are seasons to their planting and crops. There is a season of clearing away branches, dirt, and weeds. There is a season of prepping the soil. There is a season of planting, watering, fertilizing. There is a season of harvesting the crops and selling those crops, enjoying the harvest.

Then there is a season where the dirt sits.

I didn’t understand or appreciate the season where the dirt sits. I pushed and pushed so that ministry was a constant pursuit of up and to the right.

This is true in the church, church planting, leadership, and relationships.

There is a season in a marriage where you are digging in, working on emotional health, navigating your family of origin stories, and trying to move forward. This is uncomfortable work, but necessary for a marriage to fully bloom.

In leadership, you must spend seasons working on your character, who you are, and who you are becoming so that when you get there, you have the integrity to sustain the work.

In a team, you must spend the seasons growing together, learning how to work together so that you can work together when the storms hit your group and organization.

We all love the planting season, the growing season, the watching new things take off, but for those to happen, we must have the seasons where the dirt rests. You, as a leader, must have the seasons where you rest, so you are prepared for the hard seasons ahead.