Winter by definition is a season; a time frame set apart by a cold season.  In the Northern Hemisphere, Winter runs from the winter solstice to the vernal equinox.  Encompassing the month of December, January and February in the U.S., and November, December and January in Great Britain.

I woke up this morning and stepped out of my bedroom and out onto the landing at the top of our staircase. I love this spot in our home! It is one of my favorites!

God has blessed us with this house and from the top of our staircase I can stand and look out at God’s glorious creation as I greet each day!

To say our living room is “vaulted” is an understatement! Our living room has two complete sets of high rectangular windows!  One set is across the bottom of the room at eye level. The second set is high above the ground at over ten feet high!  There are five windows at this height that go around the room. I have chosen not to cover these windows since they are open to the back and side only of the house. Outside of them I see treetops, hills and even at times birds flying in and out of the trees!  

I love to stand at the top of the staircase each morning, look out at God’s beauty and proclaim, (as my grandma taught me to,) “THIS IS THE DAY THE LORD HAS MADE!  I WILL REJOICE AND BE GLAD IN IT!”

This morning as I looked out of my favorite windows, in the very same spot I stand each and every morning, something was different.

The trees looked so bare. The sky around them looked so bleak. The green leaves that hang on these particular trees, given that they are year round Oak trees and do not drop all of their leaves at once, but continuously throughout the entire year, (this is truly a pain when you are cleaning the mess all year long! I do not think my husband shares the same love for these trees as I do!) seemed to be more grey in color this day and much fewer in number than the day before. I stood at the top of the stairs and stared at what was normally my favorite scene each day, and felt a bleakness in my soul.

It was Winter outside, but I was experiencing Winter inside!

Another definition of the word ‘WINTER’ is:

“a period like winter, as in the last or final period of life; a period of decline, decay, inertia, dreariness, or adversity.”

While I was not, and am not feeling like this is my final chapter of life on this earth or that I am in decay or decline, I was feeling “lack of inertia(AKA energy) dreariness and adversity!”

Life goes through seasons. The Bible is very clear on this!

“For everything there is a season, a time for every activity under heaven.”   Ecclesiastes 3:1

There are so many more verses and stories of God’s people living there lives through “seasons!”
Good ones and bad ones! 

Hard ones and easy ones! 

Ones full of confusion and full of disappointment!

And also ones full of Joy and thanksgiving!

Seasons come into our lives and it is what we do with them and through them that matters.

Are you dealing with a season that is unsettling, you need answers or peace and it seems like that both are evasive?

Are you needing healing physically or spiritually and the pain is feeling like more than you can endure?

Are you needing an answer to a decision that has gone on for too long and regardless of the choice you make you will let someone down?

Are you struggling in your job, your marriage, your finances, your relationship or in your own personal eating and exercise?

Any or all of these can produce in us a season of WINTER!

Kind David is one of the greatest examples of going in and out of seasons, Spring and Winter.  He reached the highest of highs, and wound then plunge to the lowest of lows.

Beth Moore puts David’s life in a concise nutshell when she writes;

“He, David, rose from a common shepherd boy to become the leader of two nations. He slew a giant and saved a kingdom.  He was an adulterer and a murderer, yet a man after God’s own heart. King David was a great noble man of ancient times, but has much to say to men and women today!”

Truly, he does!

I believe that the only way to combat the “winter seasons” that come into our lives is through the Holy Spirit in God’s Word and Prayer to Him!

In the twenty-third Psalm David cries out to God and declares His great attributes.

The attributes of shepherding, caring for and providing for His flock, us, God’s children! Read through the twenty-third Psalm and allow it to pour it’s TRUTH over your spirit today! Whatever season you are in read these powerful words of TRUTH and let them fill you to overflowing!

Psalm 23

“The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not be in want.

He makes me lie down in green pastures,

He leads me beside quiet waters,

He restores my soul.

He guides me in paths of righteousness

for His name’s sake.

Even though I walk

through the valley of the shadow of death,

I will fear no evil,

for you are with me;

your rod and your staff,

they comfort me.

You prepare a table before me

in the presence of my enemies.

You anoint my head with oil;

my cup overflows.

Surely goodness and love will follow me

all the days of my life,

and I will dwell in the house of The LORD

FOREVER!“

If your spirit is in a winter season like mine was, then let it renew and strengthen you with it’s words of Truth and restoration.

If your spirit is in a season of fear and is gripped by doubt and lack of control, then let the Truth that God walks us through each and every valley and in Him we can fear no evil!

Is your spirit in a season of feeling like the enemy has gained too much ground in your life and you are feeling defeated? Then lean into the words of Truth that God prepares a table for you in the presence of your enemies and He is the Winner!

This is just a season, and this season will pass. Take heart my friends, He is always with us!

TRUTH BOMB

NO MATTER WHAT SEASONS IN LIFE WE GO THROUGH, GOD WINS!

Speak Truth Love