“Spring in the Dead of Winter” by Anna Babin
This winter was really tough for me. It had me longing to see Spring – the sun shining more, the flowers, grass, and trees coming back to life. Sometimes I wish we could just always stay in the “good seasons” and skip winter…. can I get an ‘Amen’? 😉
But God taught me something really special as I started thinking about the different seasons and why we have winter. Just like there are different seasons on this earth, there are different seasons in our personal lives too, and He uses ALL the seasons to draw us into a more intimate relationship with Him.
I don’t know about you, but going through winter DEFINITELY gets me more excited and thankful for Spring. Well, it’s the same with the trials we go through in this life. The more brokenness I see and experience on this earth, and the more brokenness I see in myself (Romans 7), the more I long for the day when Christ returns!
Sometimes we DO get to see “winter” come to an end…that trial disappears, our illness is healed, a relationship is restored, our depression goes away… But sometimes we may not get to see our particular “winter” come to an end on this side of heaven. Maybe you’re in a trial right now wondering when it’s going to be over. I want to encourage you that Spring IS coming!! You may not experience the full day of Spring in that particular trial on this earth, but you will certainly experience the full day of Spring in eternity when you are brought back into perfect relationship with God through Jesus!!! No more death, no more trials, no more illnesses, no more broken relationships, no more depression, no more sin. Even the earth itself will no longer groan as in the pains of childbirth!
Paul writes in Romans 8:21-25 that “with eager hope, the creation looks forward to the day when it will join God’s children in glorious freedom from death and decay. For we know that all creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. And we believers also groan, even though we have the Holy Spirit within us as a foretaste of future glory, for we long for our bodies to be released from sin and suffering. We, too, wait with eager hope for the day when God will give us our full rights as his adopted children, including the new bodies he has promised us. We were given this hope when we were saved. (If we already have something, we don’t need to hope for it. But if we look forward to something we don’t yet have, we must wait patiently and confidently.)” NLT
As we eagerly wait for Jesus’ arrival, I want to encourage you with this Truth:
Our God, our perfect Father, our Creator IS GOOD. He really is! He is holy, and He is crazy about you. No matter how many times you have experienced the pain of people leaving you in this life, He never will. Don’t give up, even when it feels like you are in the dead of winter and your days are dark. Even though you don’t see your leaves budding yet, and you don’t see the flower blooming, don’t forget that God is your strength.
“God is our refuge and strength,
an ever-present help in trouble.
Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way
and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea.” Psalm 46:1-2 NIV
No matter how many times you stumble, when you are in Christ, God continues to see you as if you were as righteous as Christ. When you repent of your sins, God removes them “as far from us as the east is from the west” (Psalm 103:12). “He doesn’t punish us for all our sins; He does not deal harshly with us, as we deserve” (Psalm 103:10 NLT) because Christ bore the wrath that was rightfully ours!
It really seems too good to be true! But it’s not! When you put faith in Christ, you are a NEW creation! “This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!” (2 Corinthians 5:17). You are always a spring flower whether you’re in the dead of winter or not, because of who God says you are! He says you are a NEW creation, and He will “continue His work (in you) until it is finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns” (Philippians 1:6)!
So keep going. Keep trusting in who God says He is and who He says you are in Him, even in the dead of winter, despite how you feel. I will be joining you. Too many times I base truth off of my feelings, but God’s Truth never changes, even when my feelings do.
I encourage you to meditate on the attributes of God, whether you’re experiencing the season of winter, spring, summer, or fall! Though our seasons change, our God never does. How encouraging it is to rest in knowing your eternal father, who created the heavens and the earth, who faithfully guides us in his foreknowledge, who is good and holy and immutable and incomprehensible LOVES YOU! (and that’s just some of His attributes between the letters ‘A’ and ‘I’). He is our hope:
“Because God wanted to show His unchangeable purpose even more clearly to the heirs of the promise, He guaranteed it with an oath, so that through two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to seize the hope set before us. We have this hope as an anchor for our lives, safe and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain. Jesus has entered there on our behalf as a forerunner because He has become a high priest forever in the order of Melchizedek.” Hebrews 6:17-20 CSB
Written by ~ Anna Babin
Anna Babin is a Birmingham native who moved to the Rocket City after marrying her husband, Michael. She is blessed to work at the Huntsville Pregnancy Resource Center, where she gets to love on women facing unexpected pregnancies. Her passions include studying God’s word, blogging, public speaking, all things health, gardening, and drinking coffee. Check out her blog at www.LifeAsALight.com
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