All of us go through times when it feels like all life has drained away. Even our hearts are cold. There is no fruit on the tree, no dynamic activities. It feels like winter. Winter is an important season in the life of a Christian. We need winter as we need fresh air. Winter comes once a year, every year.
Disciple4
Day 1
Scriptures: Romans 12:12, Psalms 51:8-12, Psalms 33:20-22
Winter Trees
Winter comes without fail – it is not as if we have a choice. Few people wish for winter to come. But as sure as we are of the warmth of the sun in summer, just as sure is the coming of winter once a year.
No one wishes for or hopes for the winter seasons in their lives. Yet spiritual winters arrive with relentless regularity, and we are often bewildered by them. They can be terrifying.
Yet, winters are necessary if a tree wants to bear fruit and more fruit.
The trees we see in winter show us what trees really look like. In our spiritual winters, we see ourselves as we really are. In summer, there are leaves and fruit that conceal the actual shape of the tree. But in winter, the leaves are shed, and the tree is stripped of its outward appearance. There are no leaves or fruit to draw attention away from the true shape of the tree.
Winter has not changed the tree—it is simply that in winter, we see it as it really is.
Then, we are stripped of things that make us look good, powerful, accomplished, and spiritual. That is when we must turn to God as our Only Hope and Hiding Place.
When we take away a Christian’s fruit – which is not really his fruit (it is actually the Spirit’s Fruit), his comfortable life, all the answers to prayer (which God worked), we have, in fact, taken nothing away from the person; what remains is simply who we are.
And God is not embarrassed by it – He knew it all along. And He loves us.
Take Time To Pray
Accept the Unconditional Love of God. God’s Love is not linked to our success and performance.
We have to accept the fact that God will lay us aside from time to time for our own benefit. God doesn’t make mistakes with His loved ones.
Winter times help us to seek God for Himself and bring us to a place of deeper surrender to Him.
Day 2
Scriptures: Matthew 11:28-30, Mark 6:31-32, Psalms 63:1-4, Psalms 73:25-26
Winter Trees
In winter, the tree is stripped of all outward covering. Then we see the real tree—unprotected, naked, without pretense—for everybody to see! Then, we can see the knobbly, crooked, and broken branches, fungus, and the scars left by pruning. The branches of winter trees stand black and stark with outstretched arms. They are helpless and vulnerable, ashamed and confused.
Isn’t this how we feel in the winter of life? In summer, the tree uses all its energy and ability to make itself attractive and to bear fruit. In the process, the tree uses and consumes all of its energy without noticing it. In summer, the tree loses its strength. It uses its energy to grow leaves and produce fruit—unaware that it loses its power and ability to bear fruit.
Winter comes so that the tree may recover its energy and recharge for the new season. After every season of fruitfulness, there is a winter—a recovery period. Spiritually, there are times when we need to withdraw and rest. If we ignore this spiritual reality, we will destroy ourselves.
Take Time To Pray and Surrender
It is good for us to see ourselves as we really are – without all our accolades, our position, and what people think of us.
Let us ask God to show us our true selves and bring to Him everything that is broken, everything that is not acceptable, and everything that doesn’t bear fruit. Admit it and lay it at His Feet. God is forgiving and full of tenderness. He knows our weaknesses and knows that we are made of dust. We can safely surrender ourselves to Him.
Day 3
Scriptures: Habakkuk 3:17-19, John 15:1-8, Romans 8:13
Winter Trees
Every year, grapevines increase in their ability to grow and bear more fruit. But because of the increase in growth, they also push out more shoots. That is why winter must come so that the farmer can determine which shoots to cut back. Many shoots will not bear fruit, and if they are not cut away, they will hinder the vine from producing more fruit.
In winter, trees appear to be black and dead. But there is a recovery process deep inside the tree. Amazingly enough, invisible growth is taking place. These constant periods of rest, replenishment, and inner growth are necessary for the new season to see growth and more fruit.
Christian, welcome winter. Expect winter. Don’t be caught unawares by winter. It comes once a year for every tree. Don’t dread or fear the winters of life. Do not wish them away. These winters allow us to face ourselves and see the reality of our lives, the real us. This is necessary for all of us. Winter exposes the fruitless shoots and the broken branches. It can be pruned away. It is in winter, stripped of all the flowers, fruit, and leaves, that the farmer can see what to cut away – for the benefit of the tree!
Take Time To Pray
Allow God to prune away all that is not useful, all that is not bearing fruit.
Do not argue with God about things He knows will hurt you if you do not lay them down and walk away from them.
Spiritual winters are often times of transition, times of being redirected. Be very sensitive to the Voice of the Spirit. When God is busy redirecting us and wants to use us in a new position or field of labor, it is very often accompanied by pain, rejection, and unfair treatment. We do not realize how comfortable we can get in a specific position and that to be uprooted so that we can move to another place, pain is unavoidable. Do not look at the people who caused the pain – they are God’s Instruments. And they are very often Christians. Bless them and move on.
Day 4
Scriptures: Ecclesiastes 2:22, Proverbs 3:5-6, Hebrews 12:9
Winter Trees
God’s winters help us to face the realities of life. They help us understand our limitations, our brief time on Earth, and our finiteness. They help us understand the physical laws of nature. Nobody can just run and run, sleep too little, eat the wrong food, cram too much into our days, exercise enough, and think it will not have consequences. How quickly and often we forget this. All trees die. And so do people. In summer, when the tree is fully dressed in its green foliage, it is virtually impossible to think of the brevity of the life of the tree.
While we bear fruit, our work grows, and there is progress, money comes in to continue the work; when there is an increase in personnel, turnover is bigger, and more people join our church – when there is much spiritual fruit, then we live and dream and plan as if we will be around forever. Winter helps us understand that we are growing older, that time passes, that a new generation must be trained and equipped, and that the work must be passed on to others because we will not be around forever.
Take Time To Pray
We have to ask the Holy Spirit to show us our limitations. We must ask Him to show us what He wants us to do, and then we must not do more than that – irrespective of how big the need is. Otherwise, we will be in the way of another person God wants to use.
Do not fall in love with your work. Love the Lord. Enjoy what God is giving you to do, but God alone deserves our love.
Day 5
Scriptures: Jeremiah 15:19, Hebrews 4:12-13, Psalms 139:23-24, Isaiah 50:10-11
Winter Trees
Trees do not stop growing in winter; they rest and grow deeper, not noticeably. But there, where nobody sees, growth is taking place. The roots penetrate deeper into the ground, and energy is replenished. The same is true for Christians. In the spiritual winter, Christians experience inward growth during which they grow deeper in the Lord. There where no one sees, we are anchored more securely in the Lord Himself. We gain new perspectives. This is a time of rest and recovery – an invisible preparation for a new fruit-bearing season. Blessed is winter because winter is the preparation for a new season of bearing fruit.
Sometimes, the reality of winter comes as a great disillusionment to Christians. It reveals many forms of conceit, self-life, self-effort, pride, and areas of fruitless effort. Sometimes, Christians stop serving the Lord because of winter, or they become despondent and rebel against God. It is often accompanied by embarrassment and feelings of shame. Because winter appears to cause destruction, all the work of summer seems in vain. Where is the fruit now? We were so hopeful, and now it looks as if everything has come to nothing. Winter is a paradox. Everything seemed hopeless and fruitless, and everything came to nothing. But winter puts the tree through a necessary process to preserve and strengthen the life in the tree.
Take Time To Pray
In spiritual winters, take more time to read the Bible and pray. Some find it helpful to read—especially books on the deeper Christian life. Read and pray about the Cross, brokenness, and total surrender. Read and pray about being filled with the Power of the Holy Spirit. Others need to rest as much as possible and take time to meditate and be alone with God.
Remember that the new season that will certainly come, will ask for more Spiritual Power and be accompanied by more challenges and attacks from the evil one. You must take time to anchor yourself deeper and deeper into Jesus.
Day 6
Scriptures: Isaiah 40:28-31, Proverbs 29:18, 2 Corinthians 12:9-10, Zechariah 4:6
Winter Trees
Winter trees do not die. They are alive. Winter trees have as much life as summer trees. In winter, the tree grows inside – its inner life is enlarged – so that there will be life and energy for the coming summer.
In winter, the Lord draws us deeper into Himself, teaching us to abide in Him and anchoring us more deeply in the Power of the Resurrected Life of our Lord Jesus. He strips us of hidden forms of self-life that hinder the Work of God in our lives.
Winter brings brokenness, humbleness, and restoration of Love. It fills us with the Life of God Himself in the inner person. Winter helps us see how the self, in its many forms, hinders the Holy Spirit from working powerfully in and through us. If we do not understand this, there won’t be more fruit. While the outer person is being broken down, the inner person is being built up.
When winter comes, you must remember that it is a time of growth—it is a time for the inner person to grow. Do not fear winter; understand it—bear with it, welcome it, and embrace it.
Winters are from God. Winter is the road God Himself chooses for His children. If you humbly surrender yourself in winter and keep rejoicing in God, summer will come, and you will see abundant and lasting fruit.
Take Time To Pray
When you think everything is lost, it is often the beginning of a new beginning. But you cannot move into the new summer unless you empty your hands so that you can take what God is giving you to equip you for the new season. Take time to listen to the Spirit of God.