Winter- A Season of Quiet Expectation

Thou hast made summer and winter" Psalm 74:17

 

I am not a fan of winter by any means.  But over the years I have learned to adjust not only to bad weather but to the quietness and stillness that comes with it.  It is especially calming when I see those beautiful white feathery flakes come floating from the sky.  I must say here that I do not drive in bad weather and my heart and prayers go out to those who do.  But since I am retired and have no responsibilities to go out into that bad stuff, I can enjoy it more.

Over the past several years my husband and I have been redoing our gardens.  We have bought several flowering shrubs, bushes and bulbs.  I find myself in the dead of winter going outside and walking around our yard and inspecting the shrubs and bushes to see how they are managing in the cold weather.  I have been known to talk to them and encourage them. I also do planning for the next spring and summer, looking through gardening books and just letting my imagination wander. I have visions of what my yard will look like come the spring. 

We probably have all realized that trees grow dormant during the winter. But there is much going on behind the scenes- or under the ground.  Their roots go deep into the ground looking for water and oxygen which they need to survive.  It may not look like much is going on, but not everything is seen above the surface.  As I go out and inspect our shrubs and bushes, I think about how shabby they look.  They even look dead and I wonder if they are going to make it through the winter.  But I am reminded that much is going on under the surface that I can not see.

It is the same in our spiritual life.  Sometimes we seem to be in a dormant stage.  Nothing is going on at the surface. We may even feel like we have died or we are failing God and we begin to condemn ourselves.  But we must remember that God is working on the inside at this time. We all go through changes from time to time.  We all have those "winter seasons" in our life- that winter quietness that settles in where we think nothing is going on.  We must remember that God works from the inside out. And we need those times of winter quietness to go deeper into God.  

Those bushes in our yard seem to be dead right now, but one day soon, I will start to see new growth, the green of new growth will begin to emerge. And when spring finally comes, there will be brilliant new blossoms and a fresh fragrance come forth- all because during the winter their roots went deep into the soil to find water and oxygen to bring forth new life. You may be going through a winter season, a season of stillness and quietness.  You may be going through some great trial of your faith, sickness or loss.  And although you may not see anything happening on the surface, God is causing your roots to grow deeper into Him.  As you yield yourselves and whatever trial it is that you are facing- to Him- and let Him do the work and you just be compliant in His hands- He will cause deep growth to take place.  You will emerge in your "spring" with beautiful blossoms and a fragrance that you never thought possible!  You will be a fresh testimony to those around you because they saw you in your "death of winter" and now see what God has done as emerge into your beautiful spring which brings new life! 

"As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving." 
Colossians 2:7

~ ~ Donna