Winter Seasons of Our Lives...

I have delighted in this past summer season and am now looking forward to Autumn.  I love the bronze and gold colors that decorate the ground as leaves fall and act as ornaments to the cool ground. Visions of pumpkins and apple cider dance in my mind. Finally, I love the sound of my 8^th grade students coming back to school, excited to share what they did over the summer. Autumn is definitely my favorite time. Following Autumn is the season that many people dislike—the Winter season. Why do many dislike it?  Well, the sky usually turns grey, rain (and in some areas, snow) falls overwhelmingly, the air is thick with an icy coldness, and nature, with its animal and plant life, seem to retreat. From our perspective, there seems to be a stripping away, a physical barrenness, and even a sense of deadness that encompasses life in the Winter season. Yet below the surface, this is most definitely not the case. Life still exists. Beyond the cold, the ice, and the hardness of the ground, life is still being nurtured beneath us. Nature’s quietness and slumber does not equate deadness, but is the way that preparation is being made for a future fruitful season—the Spring. The Winter season has its part in the cycle of life.  It is needed just as much as the Spring, Summer, and Autumn. It is with this in mind that I speak of spiritual seasons of our life, in particular, the Spiritual Winter season.

Just like the physical season, the spiritual winter season is characterized by a stripping away and quietness in the spirit.  Also, spiritual winter seasons are often characterized by pain, suffering, and waiting. Again, there we go with the dreaded word, waiting. It is often in this season that we face the quietness of God in our lives.  It often seems that God has forgotten us or that He has turned away from hearing our cry.  We feel a sense that God is withholding from us. His promises might even feel dead within us.  I would like to focus on this aspect of the spiritual winter season.

I am reminded of a couple who experienced their own spiritual winter season-a time of unanswered promises.  We read in Genesis, chapter 15, that God promised Abraham and Sara something that they had always wanted- a child.  Little did they know that the time between the promise and the fulfillment of that promise would be a very long period.  We see this couple become discouraged over time. Years later, after much pain, confusion, and tested faith, God finally gives them the child He promised.  The journey was not easy, but this couple made it through their winter season. In the book of Romans, Paul makes reference to Abraham when he says,

 “Who against hope believed in hope, that he might become the father of many nations; according to that which was spoken, So shall thy seed be.  And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead, when he was about an hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sara's womb:  He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strong in the faith, giving glory to God.  And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was also able to perform.  And therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness."  Romans 4:17-22

Wow!  When I read this, it blows my mind how Abraham never gave up despite the circumstances surrounding him.  Instead of looking at his situation with his physical eyes, he embraced with his spiritual eyes what God had promised him.  Now that’s true faith!

Just like Abraham and Sara, we might experience such a season of our own.  Although pregnant with promise, we find it hard to hear from God. We feel stripped spiritually, sometimes rejected, hurt, and isolated.  Although we might feel barren and like the promises of God have died within us, truly inside, we know this is not the case. This is the time where we live purely by faith, and faith alone. Just like our perspective is limited in the physical Winter season, it is the same in the spiritual. We cannot see with our physical eyes what God is doing behind the scenes, but we must simply believe that God is answering us. We may not hear His voice or even feel His presence, but we must have faith that He is still working in our spirits and planting the seeds that eventually will come to fruition.  We may feel pain, but with our eyes of faith, we must know with certainty that God is producing a precious oil of anointing that is homegrown in our hearts and minds. We must look past what is in front of us, just as Abraham did, and simply have faith, for we know that God is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him (Hebrews 11:6).

Seasons don't last forever, but they do have their place in our lives. Each season brings new opportunities to grow as a person. It is unrealistic to believe that we can live in only one season.  That's just not the way life works.  Although suffering is hard when it is taking place in our own life, we cannot fight against what God is doing inside of us.  Where there is pain, God will also provide grace and strength. Keep in mind, God’s purpose is being accomplished in you.  During this season, you are producing things that God will use to impact others once this season passes. The Apostle Paul said,

For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.  II Corinthians 4:17

I often wish that I could have the same mindset as Paul when he said, “Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong” (II Corinthians 12:10)

If I may paraphrase, Paul is saying that he takes pleasure in spiritual winter seasons which are characterized by need, sickness, backbiting, persecution, sadness, unanswered prayers, you name it. He calls us to take pleasure in those things.  I don’t know about you, but I am a big baby when I am sick or feeling less than well. Pleasure is not the exact word that I would use in this case.Unanswered prayers can be such a burden. I don’t like waiting. I don’t like feeling lonely or sad. But again, we are to take pleasure in these things. You may ask, “But how do I do this. It’s so hard.”  The answer is, you can’t.  At least not on your own. It is only through leaning on Christ that we can make it through to the other side of our testing. We can take pleasure in unpleasant circumstances and in a winter season because we know that God’s strength is made perfect in weakness (II Corinthians 12:9). The key here is that when we are truly weak, at our lowest point, feeling the craziest pain, this is when God makes us strong. Although we feel alone during a spiritual winter season, we are not. God is with us if we will simply believe it. Remember, Jesus already experienced the pain so that He could relate to us.  There’s nothing that you are facing that Christ did not already experience. We can take comfort in this. Christ’s sacrifice on Calvary already gave us the victory and made us more than conquerors.  Take hope.  Millions of other Christians as well as myself have made it through this winter season. So can you. When you’ve made it through the heartache and pain and still come out worshipping Jesus, there is nothing like that feeling. The moment when you realize that one season has ended and a new one is about to begin has to be the most wonderful feeling in the world. It is in that moment that you can truly sing, it’s a new season, it’s a new day, a fresh anointing, is coming my way. 

The Waiting Game

Whenever I am at a point in my life where I am waiting on God, it is easy for me to feel anxious, worried, and even frustrated at times. I remember once crying out to God as to what I should do while waiting.  The Lord turned my heart to Psalm 37.  These key verses stood out immediately:

Trust in the Lord, and do good (verse 3)
Delight thyself also in the Lord (verse 4)
Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in him (verse 5)
Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for him, fret not... (verse 7)
Cease from anger, and forsake wrath: fret not thyself....(verse 8)
Depart from evil, and do good (verse 27)
The Law of his God is in his heart; none of his steps shall slide  (verse 31)
Keep His way (verse 34)

Wow! This is loaded chapter.  Trust delight, commit, rest, cease from anger, forsake wrath, fret not, depart from evil, do good, Keep His Law (Word), Keep His way.   Looks like I have plenty to keep me busy in a season of waiting.  I don't know what you're waiting for. It could be a job, a financial need, a physical healing, a spiritual healing, or a promise that God gave you a long time ago.  Whatever it is, trust that he will meet your need. Delight in His presence and in serving Him. Delight in the fact that you are privileged to know the Creator of the Universe and Lover of your soul. Commit to seeking Him until He answers your request.  Rest in His presence with that deep assurance that He has not forgotten you. Rest under the shadow of His wing knowing that He has everything under control. Rest in His peace.  Be anxious for nothing, but pray and continually offer thanks to God for what he has already done and what He will do.  Don't be angry with God. Do good unto others, especially those who are less fortunate. Serve Him sincerely as He works in your life, stay in His Word as it will strengthen and nourish your spirit and fill you with His heavenly wisdom. Meditate on his wonderful law.  Finally, keep his way and obey His commandments. Doing so will ensure that you are in his will and that your steps are guided.
Waiting is often the hardest, but God asks us over and over too wait on Him.  Waiting does not last forever, but in the meantime, you have plenty to do while waiting on our wonderful saviour, who will never let you down. In this season, God will provide endless grace and strength to lift you up as you wait on Him. I would like to end with these words penned by the wise psalmist David,

 "I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.  Wait on the Lord: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the Lord."   Psalm 27:13

The Power of Mentorship

I know few who can look back at their pre-teen and teen years and not cringe as they remember all the crazy and sometimes embarassing things they experienced.  My teen years were full of awkwardness, excitement, fear, and drama.  I think I experienced every emotion that a young girl could face.  The most interesting time of my teen years was my middle school years. Going through some personal troubles in my home life, I suffered a lot of depression. Although I grew up in church,  I was also beginning to really question my faith  and very curious as to whether or not there really was a God and if He did exist, whether or not He loved me.  It was an interesting time in my life to say the least.
      There was older girl at my church that seemed to get me. She was 18 years old. She reached out to me and befriended me. She didn't mind that I was dramatic and wore my emotions on my sleeve.  She would take the time to talk to me, listen to me, and pray with me. I remember sitting in her little car  listening to Crystal Lewis and talking about life.  I remember so often going to the altar and feeling her arms reach around my shoulders as she prayed for God to instill a hunger in me and use me in his kingdom.  During an especially hard year in my life, my 8th grade year, she would often pick me up from school and take me out to eat so we could have our girl chats.  We discussed boys, music, church, family, you name it.  You allowed herself to be a shoulder I could cry on.  When needed, she gently scolded me, but with love and patience. While other girls her age were busy worrying about boys and their social lives, she lived out godliness, purity, and obedience and kept focused on her family and school.   I didn't realize it at the time, but she was my role-model and mentor and her godly example was beginning to influence me. When I decided to give my life to God and to get baptized at the end of my 8th grade year, I believe she was one of the first people that I called.  She was so ecstatic for me.  She continued to mentor me after I was baptized until my family and I relocated to southern Caifornia. Now as I look back, I see the true effects of this young woman's example on my life. I realize that without her, I might not be here today, serving God and invested in His kingdom. Don't ever think that you can't make the difference in a young person's life.  In this generation, our young people are facing so much.  They are dealing with things that we might not even fathom.  The enemy of their souls wants to trap and confuse them to the point where they think that they are too far from God to even return. It is with this in mind that I say that you can make a difference. Your example, your testimony, and your ability to reach out might just be what our young boys and girls need. It might take you spending some time with them, or giving them an encouraging word.  It might be a hug or an embrace at the altar.   Most importantly, it is your prayers for them that will get them through. Pray that God would keep them, but also pray that God would give you a sensitive heart for them and what they are facing. As a middle school teacher, I see the junk that the enemy is using to lure our young people. It is not a pretty picture and some parents would be shocked at some of the things our young people, their young people are experimenting with.  A while back, I was praying during the altar call and God impressed for me to go pray with a young lady. I was a bit afraid to pray with her because I didn't know how comfortable she would be with me doing so and if she would put up walls (very normal fear). The Lord told me that she was hurting and that He was going to work in her. I didn't know what I would say, but I walked over to her and just put my arms around her.  Surprisingly, I felt that I should say absolutely NOTHING.  I was a bit confused, but I simply stayed with her and prayed for her within my own heart. After a couple of seconds, I felt the Holy Spirit inside of me begin to intercede for her. I didn't even know what the Holy Spirit was praying, but I felt the Power so strong.  He was ministering to her through me, but I was kept out of the loop. he he. If we'd only realize that we are simply the vessels.  She began to weep and weep some more.  God was dealing with her and speaking to her. I just kept my arms around her. It was then that I realized that so often, we dismiss our young ladies as "drama queens" and we judge them so much for not being as mature as we think they should be, but even through all the layers of their young lives, God loves them and cares about their problems. They matter to God.  God cares that they are having problems at home. God cares that they just broke up with their boyfriend and are battling depression. God cares that they are struggling with their weight, and overall self-image.  God cares that they are failing their classes at school. We should care too.    I remember my younger sister asked a minister if he thought God would help her with her weight problem and he replied, God does not care about petty things like that.  Well, he was wrong.  God DOES care.  If it hurts us, He cares. 
 The awesome part is that if we put forth the effort in mentoring our young people, God will work through us to influence and direct them toward His kingdom.  I thank my own mentor. She knows who she is.  I say to her, thank you for leading me to Jesus.