When It Seems Like Winter Will Never End

It’s in-between time here in Montana…

Winter is receding yet nothing has appeared to take its place.

To the naked eye, everything seems lifeless and dead this mid-March day. As though spring will never come.

Gray skies hang low outside my window as heavy clouds cloak the surrounding mountains. A few shriveled leaves cling stubbornly  to aspen branches as they quiver in the wind.

Change may be coming, but it’s coming mighty slow.

The Promise of Spring

Spring takes its own sweet time in Montana, and it can seem to dilly-dally in life as well.

Emotionally navigating such wintry times can be difficult. It takes patience and tenacity to hope for change when everything feels frozen, dead and lifeless around you. Inside of you.

But no matter what you’re walking through right now, I want to remind you of three important things…

1. Winter isn’t wasted. Just as the dormancy of winter works a deep strengthening in nature, God is using this cold, dark season to work something deep in you as well. Relinquish your right to understand, and trust God instead.

2. Don’t allow your confusion to come between you and God. Run to Jesus with your questions and your fear. He may not provide the answers you seek, but He’ll provide the peace you need.

And never forget…

3. Your current reality is not your final destiny. Spring will come. Just as the sun will shine, the trees will bud and the flowers will blossom on earth, God will bring new life to your soul.

Stay Grounded in God

Yesterday, I thought spring was just around the corner. But this afternoon, a wintry squall hit our valley yet again, filling the sky with snow and a blast of cold air.

The journey out of winter can be like that in life as well. Fair and lovely one day. Bitter cold and cutting the next.

I’m learning it’s better to keep my eyes on my Savior than on my emotional weather report. I’m learning to focus on staying rooted and established in Jesus, and let the winds blow as they may.

For important work is being accomplished in my winter season, though I’m nearly always unaware…

This dark, wintry season you’re passing through has more purpose and value than you could possibly know. It is, as 2 Corinthians 4:17 NKJV puts it, “working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.”

Nothing is wasted, my friend. You haven’t wandered into winter by mistake.

Instead, God is using it to form the beauty of Jesus in you. You can trust Him with this season of your life.

Although it may seem like winter will never end, you can rely on His goodness. His promises. His altogether-beautiful purposes.

For spring is just around the corner…

Are you walking through a wintry season today? Please let me know how I can pray for you…