February 9
"While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, winter and summer, and day and night shall not cease." -Genesis 8:22
Winter is challenging in freezing icy February days when the wind howls and the cold blows under our door sills with a bitter chill. To many it is a difficult miserable time. But frost, ice, and snow are an indispensable part of life. Without winter, the truth is that spring and summer wouldn’t be what they are. There are seasons in our life also- just as there are seasons in nature. Yet we sometimes have difficulties in understanding why seasons exist. or why we have to suffer through winters with barren branches and frozen earth? It’s good to learn from nature because the Lord who created us also created nature. Through Creation, we can better understand our Creator. Winter may seem a time of death, but in reality it’s a time of rest. When harvest is over, trees aren’t ready to bear new fruit immediately. They need rest, and winter gives time to do so. Many get easily caught in treadmills of eternally producing. We may even feel. God can’t approve us unless we are always productive. But God's Grace allows winter seasons in our lives to give us rest. He doesn’t expect us to bear fruit in winter! Can we accept God's gift of rest and stop forcing fruit from our weary lives out of season?
Yet in late winter it only takes a sunny day, and we can see how buds begin to break forth because they have rested in due season and are ready to joyfully bloom. When you emotionally enter a winter season, you may withdraw from some activities, but that doesn’t mean your spirit is dying. It only means you are resting, and preparing for a new season of fruit, flowers, and growth. God takes you aside to strengthen you for what is coming. Without this preparation, you won’t be ready for a new season in life! If you’re in a Winter Season of Life right now, it’s not the end but the beginning! After winter, comes spring. Trust that God will transform the winter in your life to spring. When you accept the rest and ask God to refresh you, then you will eventually bloom like God's beautiful world in Spring!
Prayer: God, Thank you for rest in Winter Seasons. Amen.
Meditation For The Day: Winter's testing also offers resting.
Brief Devotions For Busy Lives: Daily Winter Renewal Paperback – November 25, 2017, by Rev. Dr. Mary Johnson (Author)
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