Lying Dormant

I was surprised once to meet a grown man who had never heard of sun-dogs. But when one has lived most of their life in South Africa, they don't experience the sub-zero (Fahrenheit) temperatures which most frequently produce these wonders. My description could not have portrayed half of the glory of this sight. 

A double sun-dog forming a
near-circle around the winter sun

Whether you live with frigid cold or extreme heat, you have some season during which plants lie dormant. And even the most temperate climes will not protect our lives from what look like dormant seasons. If you feel as if your life is "on hold" - even for years on end -take heart! God is at work in your life even then.

To quote once again from Amy Carmichael's Rose from Brier:

"In South India we have no snow; instead of snow we have great heat.

During the hot weather, when the leaves of the lilies fade, you (if you are wise) do not water the plant; you must not persuade it to make green leaves then; its powers are being used otherwise. For then, in this hot, silent time, the miracle is wrought that multiplies your lily bulb.

In cold lands instead of heat there is the silent snowtime; shall we not trust whether through the heat or under the snow?"