SPIRITUAL WINTER

There are seasons in the Christian journey that do not resemble the vibrant gardens often portrayed in testimonies. Seasons when there are no blossoms of joy, no visible fruit of labor, no warmth of spiritual excitement.
Winter strips a tree of everything that once made it attractive. The leaves fall. The fruit disappears. The branches stand exposed against cold skies.

Spiritual winter feels much the same.
Prayer becomes quieter. Worship feels less emotional. Dreams seem frozen.  God appears silent. Others may look at our lives and see only barren branches… Still…

Philippians 1:6
“Being confident of this very thing, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”

Beneath the frozen ground, roots continue to grow. The tree conserves its strength. What appears lifeless is often being prepared for a future season of growth.

God’s work is sometimes hidden rather than absent.

The spiritual winter teaches lessons that spring cannot. It teaches trust when feelings are gone. It teaches faithfulness when rewards are unseen. It teaches endurance when every outward sign suggests giving up.

The beauty of winter is not found in its appearance but in its purpose.

A tree does not strive to produce fruit in winter. It simply remains rooted.

Perhaps that is the calling of this season: not to produce, not to impress, not to bloom but to remain rooted in Christ.

2Timothy 1:12
“For I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.”
For winter is never the final chapter. The God who ordains the seasons also appoints the spring.

Spiritual winter has taught me that faith is not always a blooming tree heavy with fruit. Sometimes faith is a bare branch reaching toward a gray sky and still believing spring will come. It teaches humility, to still stand tall even when there is no beauty to be admired…

For I know whom I have believed.

I may not understand the season, but I know the One who ordains the seasons.

I may not see the fruit, but I trust the One who tends the roots.

I may not feel the warmth, but I rest in the One who has promised never to leave me.

And because He began a good work in me, I am persuaded that He will bring it to completion.

Winter is not the end of the story. Until then I will stay rooted in Faith and when the dry winter wind blows…in humility,I will lean on His Faithfulness. On the one who promised never to leave me nor forsake me.

Faithful Steward Chronicles