Spiritual Winter? – Where’s God?

Look! The winter is past. The rain is over and gone. Blossoms appear in the land. The time of the songbird has arrived. – Song of Solomon 2:11-12

Winter…one of our least favorite seasons. Many people like snow but few like the winter. Even on the worst winter day, with snow, ice, and bitter cold wind we can take comfort in knowing that spring is coming, and everything that spring means: warm weather, new growth, and blossoms. Maybe it takes an optimist to be able not to let the winter days get us down and to dream about spring coming, but we can at least hope, right? Hoping that something good is coming helps us to get past the hard things; we know that spring is around the corner. It’s a sure thing—it happens every year.

The seasons are by God’s design. If you live in a part of the world that has the four seasons then you have an advantage, the seasons are so distinct which can remind us of God and some of His distinct ways. All of creation, including the seasons, speaks of God’s glory and His invisible qualities.

From the creation of the world, God’s invisible qualities, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly observed in what he made. As a result, people have no excuse. – Romans 1:20

We can understand and take comfort that not only has God designed springtime within His creation, He gives spring and renewal to His people, too. The verses from Song of Solomon 2 speak about spiritual renewal, a spiritual spring that was coming. We all have “winters”—these are times of depression, discouragement, despondency. We feel so dry and hopeless, and God seems so far away—our own personal “winter season.” Maybe we feel like we’ve been in winter for years, and maybe we have no hope that it will ever get better. We need our own “spring,” a reality of refreshment and renewal. But where does that renewal come from? These seasons are not like earthly seasons; we struggle to know that our spring is just around the corner, not like the surety of the natural season.

However, we know that we all are so much more important to God than the trees and plants and the “lilies of the fields.” If He renews them without fail, won’t He renew us?

But those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint. – Isaiah 40:31

Here’s the amazing thing about God’s renewal plan: we don’t have to wait until “spring” to finally get here for a renewal. We don’t have to hope that maybe, just maybe, one day our spirits will be renewed.

Jesus can renew us at any time. The Bible speaks a lot about the right time being now—that we can have help from God at this moment. “Today is the day of salvation!” Jesus said that He is the resurrection—present tense—right at this very moment. Jesus is all these things: salvation, new life, revival. He imparts them to His people. We just need to believe, and to ask.

When our spirits are renewed, all of a sudden we find the joy, peace, and happiness that God always intended for us.

Even in the dead of winter we can have spring in our hearts. Ask the Lord to revive you today.

I live in a high and holy place. But I am with those who are crushed and humble. I will renew the spirit of those who are humble and the courage of those who are crushed. – Isaiah 57:15