When it’s been winter for so long you’ve forgotten

the smell of flowers,

the color of grass and

the whisper of a warm breeze …

When earth has been frozen for so long,

you’ve forgotten your aversion to the bitter cold

and found your peace in the barren wasteland …

When you’ve embraced the palette of gray

and the dark …

When you’ve stopped arguing with the reality of snow

and accepted this grand sadness as a fact …

when you’ve finally completely let go,

spring comes.

like the bronze sun of God rising in the east,

buds appear on trees like magic.

flowers wake up dancing,

joy fills your soul

with wonder,

beauty,

wow.

life is so good you can taste and see and stretch

into the great gift

your Creator was planning all along

In John 16:20, Jesus said “Truly, truly, I say to you, that you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice; you will grieve, but your grief will be turned into joy.”

When we experience seasons of sorrow that seem like an endless winter in our lives, we can trust that by faith, God will make all things new in time. We simply need to cultivate patience and a hearty willingness to keep the faith through whatever trials we encounter. It helps to look for God’s eternally wise hands at work through good times and bad.

Ecclesiastes 3:

3 There is a time for everything,
    and a season for every activity under the heavens:
²     a time to be born and a time to die,
    a time to plant and a time to uproot,
³     a time to kill and a time to heal,
    a time to tear down and a time to build,
⁴     a time to weep and a time to laugh,
    a time to mourn and a time to dance,
⁵     a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
    a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,
⁶     a time to search and a time to give up,
    a time to keep and a time to throw away,
⁷     a time to tear and a time to mend,
    a time to be silent and a time to speak,
⁸     a time to love and a time to hate,
    a time for war and a time for peace.

⁹ What do workers gain from their toil? ¹⁰ I have seen the burden God has laid on the human race. ¹¹ He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet^[a] no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end. ¹² I know that there is nothing better for people than to be happy and to do good while they live. ¹³ That each of them may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all their toil—this is the gift of God. ¹⁴ I know that everything God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it. God does it so that people will fear him.

What season of life are you experiencing in your heart right now? Are you at peace or struggling to keep the faith with where you’re at on your spiritual journey? Comment below, and I’ll be delighted to keep you in my prayers.

Lord, thank you for setting a desire for Your eternal glory in our hearts. Give us the grace of surrender into whatever season of life you have called us to at this time. If we are in a season of joy, help us to appreciate and embrace it to the full, glorifying You with our thanksgiving. If we are in a season of sorrow, help us to accept our cross, surrender to Your will and trust that you will make all things new in the right time. Help us to live fully in the Light of Your Love and fully embrace Your perfect plan for our lives in goid times and bad. In Jesus name we pray, Amen

Written by Nicky Gant 4/9/2019 for Unite in Prayer http://www.uniteinprayer.org