Here’s something worth pondering: “never cut a tree down in the wintertime.” That was at the bottom of an email I once received and it got me thinking. How often do we pull the plug on what appears to be dead without waiting long enough to see if life will stir?

Some couples choose divorce without committed trying. A teen drops out of high school because it gets hard and they aren’t willing to push through. A parent gives up on a wayward child and treats them as if they don’t exist. The court system “throws away the key” for what they consider a hardened criminal.

When we are tempted to give up on someone or something, we should think about winter. In winter there is no sign of life. The tree is bare and brittle. As far as appearances go, we might just as well hack it down and throw it on the garbage heap. We don’t do it though because we have lived through enough winters to know what’s coming.

Spring happens along every year and our dead tree starts to bud new leaves. It isn’t dead after all but in case it really is, that’s time enough to prove it. What does it hurt to give it every chance?

Are you in some kind of winter right now? Are you ready to give up and call it quits regarding some issue in your life? Are you really so sure there is no hope? I say hold off a bit and see what happens. Wait till spring.