I'm transitioning into Springtime. It's a bit of the muck and mire time. Winter wasn't easy. Dark. Cold. Alone. More uphill than down. Not much sunshine. Dead branches just waiting for the sun to come alive again. And now putting my hand on the doorknob, turning the handle and daring to let the warmth and beauty of Spring come in.
Do you feel this way coming out of a "season of winter". I don't mean just the physical side here, but the spiritual. Where you have had a season of trial, struggle, deadness and wondering if the sun would ever shine again. We all have, I assume. And seasons are good. They are necessary for growth. IF we don’t understand and grasp that God works in seasons, we will think our lives are to be one continual JOY and anything less means we are in sin. We misunderstand and then walk away and blame God.
Our connection to the Vine (Jesus) will determine if we even survive the season, let alone have fruit in the next. During the dark cold days of a winter season in my life, if I didn't have a prayer life, a time of getting into the Word each day, a hanging-on-for-dear-life clinging to the Lord, that door into Springtime would remain shut.
The physical winter these past months have been very difficult for so many in parts of the U.S. Those on the east coast wondering if winter will ever end. You can hear it in their voices and see it on their faces when they are interviewed on the news stations. When will this ever end?? But you know, sometime in this physical world, spring has to come. It has to. And, we know that even in our spiritual and emotional lives, springtime will come.
Springtime is a time of new growth, new vision. When the buds begin to show and then blossom. That life in the bud was there a year ago...before the winter...growing, being nurtured waiting for its season to appear in all its beauty. It knew it would.....it just took time. And there was so much going on in the bud that couldn't be seen by the naked eye. So much God is doing in us in the dark months, behind the scenes, waiting to be revealed in the proper season. And the bud cannot be forced open; it must happen naturally by the hand of the creator.
Springtime means cleaning out the weeds, getting rid of the fallen branches, clearing the ground of the debris which has gathered over the stormy winter months. Getting rid of the junk, distractions, and sin that can clutter our lives with so much ease we don't even see it until the sun shines again. Takes discipline, intentional action of raking the deadness away before opening the door. And don't even get me talking about washing the windows so you can even see out! Aren't metaphors amazing in how they help us to see and relate the spiritual to the physical?
Despite the struggles, the questioning, the lack of passion, I knew Springtime would come. I didn't know what it would look like, but I knew it would come. If I let God do the deep inside work, eventually the season would change. If I let God....
I went for a walk the other day. I heard birds singing, pink blossoms budding from the trees, smelling their sweet scent. Daffodils and tulips covered the fields below a brilliant blue sky. A soft breeze blowing fluffy white clouds across that sky. And I heard lawn mowers. Springtime had arrived. It was finally here. And this week something in my heart and spirit has come alive. New passions and desires that have lied dormant for months are emerging. A new hope arising in my heart. And I am daring to open the door and let Springtime take its course. The sun is shining once again (as we knew it would) and I sense God has a smile on His face as those buds blossom and a new season of growth, vitality, vision and promise is on the other side of that door.
Do you feel this way coming out of a "season of winter". I don't mean just the physical side here, but the spiritual. Where you have had a season of trial, struggle, deadness and wondering if the sun would ever shine again. We all have, I assume. And seasons are good. They are necessary for growth. IF we don’t understand and grasp that God works in seasons, we will think our lives are to be one continual JOY and anything less means we are in sin. We misunderstand and then walk away and blame God.
Our connection to the Vine (Jesus) will determine if we even survive the season, let alone have fruit in the next. During the dark cold days of a winter season in my life, if I didn't have a prayer life, a time of getting into the Word each day, a hanging-on-for-dear-life clinging to the Lord, that door into Springtime would remain shut.
The physical winter these past months have been very difficult for so many in parts of the U.S. Those on the east coast wondering if winter will ever end. You can hear it in their voices and see it on their faces when they are interviewed on the news stations. When will this ever end?? But you know, sometime in this physical world, spring has to come. It has to. And, we know that even in our spiritual and emotional lives, springtime will come.
Springtime is a time of new growth, new vision. When the buds begin to show and then blossom. That life in the bud was there a year ago...before the winter...growing, being nurtured waiting for its season to appear in all its beauty. It knew it would.....it just took time. And there was so much going on in the bud that couldn't be seen by the naked eye. So much God is doing in us in the dark months, behind the scenes, waiting to be revealed in the proper season. And the bud cannot be forced open; it must happen naturally by the hand of the creator.
Springtime means cleaning out the weeds, getting rid of the fallen branches, clearing the ground of the debris which has gathered over the stormy winter months. Getting rid of the junk, distractions, and sin that can clutter our lives with so much ease we don't even see it until the sun shines again. Takes discipline, intentional action of raking the deadness away before opening the door. And don't even get me talking about washing the windows so you can even see out! Aren't metaphors amazing in how they help us to see and relate the spiritual to the physical?
Despite the struggles, the questioning, the lack of passion, I knew Springtime would come. I didn't know what it would look like, but I knew it would come. If I let God do the deep inside work, eventually the season would change. If I let God....
I went for a walk the other day. I heard birds singing, pink blossoms budding from the trees, smelling their sweet scent. Daffodils and tulips covered the fields below a brilliant blue sky. A soft breeze blowing fluffy white clouds across that sky. And I heard lawn mowers. Springtime had arrived. It was finally here. And this week something in my heart and spirit has come alive. New passions and desires that have lied dormant for months are emerging. A new hope arising in my heart. And I am daring to open the door and let Springtime take its course. The sun is shining once again (as we knew it would) and I sense God has a smile on His face as those buds blossom and a new season of growth, vitality, vision and promise is on the other side of that door.
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