As the temperatures drop and mornings become crisp and cool, I find myself thinking about something I do each year: preparing for winter.
I thought about a few years ago when I prepared myself for winter and helped others prepare. Whether preparing water pipes, chopping wood, or picking up nuts, I helped those around me prepare for the season ahead.
Knowing God often speaks spiritual things to me through natural processes, I felt strongly God was showing me something vital. Not only should we prepare ourselves for winter, but we should also help others prepare. Hence, my article today.
There are seasons in our spiritual life, winter being one of them.
Spiritually, winter represents a dormant time in our lives, a time when there is no visible growth. We may even feel that we are not hearing God clearly during the winter seasons. It often feels cold and isolated.
Since everything seems dead in winter, it can be one of the most uncomfortable seasons we experience.
However, it is also a time when, if we allow it, our roots will go down deep into Him searching for living water.
The winter season is a time to find comfort in the Comforter. In the winter season, we find the voice of the Comforter is the only one that will bring life to us. All other voices will sound like pure noise.
It is a time to become intimate with God, to snuggle in with Him, to shut out the world and cultivate intimacy, and to build your foundation in Him alone.
The most profound revelation and the best messages come from the winter seasons of our lives.
Second-hand spiritual knowledge will not sustain you during the winter seasons. Being around spiritual people will not be enough. A prophetic word will not suffice. If you are okay with getting a prophetic word fix, you will have a hard time during the winter seasons, for it is a time to learn to discern His voice. It is a time for deep intimacy with God. Intimacy with God will give you something nothing else can. No prophetic word will give you what intimacy will.
Winter season is also a time of waiting…and we can learn to wait well by developing intimacy with God.
I love all seasons—even winter. To me, the quiet of winter is deeply soothing.
I love sitting on my back porch watching the snow. I love the silence of the snow. It gently falls to the ground as it covers everything. It brings a sense of serenity that you can feel deep in your soul. That’s what I think of when I think of winter.
It is the same with God. During the winter seasons of our lives, if we allow Him to, He will take us to a deep place of serenity. If we learn to wait well during winter, if we choose to develop intimacy with Him during winter, if we allow His presence to gently come upon us until we are fully covered in Him, we will experience that deep quiet of our soul that I am talking about.
How, then, do we spiritually prepare for winter seasons?
Check our hearts. Make sure nothing in our hearts will cause us to stumble during the winter season. Make sure our faith in God and His faithfulness is intact.
Don’t allow our faith or our passion for God to grow cold. Keep a continual fire burning by meditating daily on God’s word. Cultivate a heart of thanksgiving and praise. Spend time in His presence.
Colossians 2:7 says; Let your roots grow down into him, and let your lives be built on him. Then, your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught, and you will overflow with thankfulness.
Our lives become built on Him as our roots grow deep into Him. Our faith grows and remains strong, and we reach a time of overflow. This…is the fruit of the winter seasons.
So, grab a warm cup of tea and the good book. Settle in. Fall has come, and winter is approaching! And it can be the most fruitful season of your life.
