An Encouragement for Those in a ‘Winter Season’
I am a firm believer God can and does speak through a multitude of ways. Here in New Zealand we are currently in the middle of winter. Where we live, the last few days have been cold, rainy and windy - like seriously cold, rainy and windy. Every time I would look out the window, the rain would be pouring down and the trees would be bending and swaying in the breeze.
To be completely honest, I don’t like winter. The days are short, the landscape looks bleaker as there are no leaves on the trees, and it just feels blah. Winter can feel barren, like nothing is happening. On top of that, winter storms can cause havoc, which is what happened this weekend, leading to many roads being closed due to landslips and fallen trees blocking them.
I believe this speaks to the season many of us have found ourselves in. I know this isn't exclusive to me, but for a while, life has felt like a very long winter. Life has felt bleak, barren, like nothing is happening, difficult, like the night seasons (the dark night of the soul) are never ending. And in the same way storms have been here in the natural, everything around us can feel chaotic and overwhelming.
However, when I got out of bed this morning, I was pleasantly surprised that the weather was sunny, the air felt warmer and the wind had died down. This surprised me because the last time I checked the weather forecast it was meant to rain today. I received an even bigger surprise when I looked out our lounge room window, as I found that one of the trees we can see out our window had some bright pink flowers on it that were not there on the weekend. In the storm, they still somehow managed to blossom and bloom. I took a photo of it and have shared it on this post.
As I was looking at this tree, I felt the Father speaking to me: “I am always working, even in the storms, even in the long dark nights, even in the middle of winter. I am working in ways you can’t even begin to imagine.”
I was then reminded of a Scripture that He has been drawing my attention to a lot lately from Song of Songs:
The season has changed,
the bondage of your barren winter has ended,
and the season of hiding is over and gone.
The rains have soaked the earth
12 and left it bright with blossoming flowers.
The season for singing and pruning the vines has arrived.
I hear the cooing of doves in our land,
filling the air with songs to awaken you
and guide you forth.
13 Can you not discern this new day of destiny
breaking forth around you?
The early signs of my purposes and plans
are bursting forth.
The budding vines of new life
are now blooming everywhere.
The fragrance of their flowers whispers,
“There is change in the air.”
Song of Songs 2:11-13 (TPT)
I was reminded that in winter seasons, even though it looks barren on the outside, much is taking place on the inside. Trees must go through a winter season in order to be ready for the fruitfulness of spring and summer. It is a natural cycle of life. Winter can be long, dark, hard and stormy. But after winter there is spring.
It is the same in our lives. In those ‘barren winter’ seasons in our lives, so much is going on under the surface that in the moment we are often not conscious of. Why is this? Because they drive us to Him, and when we are in that place of union and intimacy with Him, it allows Him the opportunity to do a deep, cleansing, healing work in our hearts. And what flows is life, fruitfulness and beauty.
As I continued to look at the flowers, I was struck by the fact that they were pink. When I looked up the biblical meaning of the colour pink, I discovered that pink means ‘right relationship with God’. Why is this significant? Because in the dark and stormy winter seasons of life when we are driven deeper into the arms of the Father, He uses them to prune away the areas of our lives and heart that aren’t in alignment with Him, those ways of thinking and acting that hinder our relationship with Him and prevent fruit from flowing in and through our lives so that we can live unhindered in right relationship with Him.
So, in all that, today I was reminded that even though they are hard, winter seasons are actually beautiful, because what takes place during and after them are precious and cannot be taken lightly.
Today I want to encourage you – if you are in a winter season, God is declaring over you right now, “I know it has been hard, but winter is coming to an end. The seasons are changing, and you will be amazed at how my beauty will flow in and through you.”
If you are still finding it hard, and I put myself in that category too, then I believe a key lies in the next few lines of that passage from Song of Songs:
Arise, my love, my beautiful companion,
and run with me to the higher place.
For now is the time to arise and come away with me.
14 For you are my dove, hidden in the split-open rock
It was I who took you and hid you up high
in the secret stairway of the sky.
Let me see your radiant face and hear your sweet voice.
How beautiful your eyes of worship
and lovely your voice in prayer.
15 You must catch the troubling foxes,
those sly little foxes that hinder our relationship.
For they raid our budding vineyard of love
to ruin what I’ve planted within you.
Will you catch them and remove them for me?
We will do it together.
Song of Songs 2:13-15 (TPT)
In the midst of the winter season, run to Him. Hide in Him. Spend time with Him. Allow Him the space to deal with the things that are holding you back. I believe that if you do, the results will be incredible!