“As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it, without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater” -Isaiah 55:10

You’re in a season: you may be literally and figuratively in winter. During winter, the land rests, snow blankets everything and makes it clean, and animals go into hibernation. Snow also hurts–nobody wants to walk in snow barefoot. Snow and winter provide the imagery of rest, self-discovery, reflection, and growth. But it could also be a season of in-betweens: waiting for our new job, our next relationship, or some addiction you’re going through. What if you embraced your winter–like rings of a tree, what if every winter makes you stronger? Instead of always assuming that we have to build and make and do, winter can be when we simply rest, grow, and listen to God’s voice. Rather than always looking to spring, enjoy your winter. After enduring our suffering, our lives become more beautiful and powerful.

PRAYER: Thank you, Lord for winter. Winter’s can be long and cold and hard to survive, but you will you will joy. Help me to rest in the difficult seasons and trust you.

REFLECTION: Do you have an easy time embracing your struggles? Like corinthians 12:10 says “That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” Do you believe that? Try to ruminate on this during a difficult time.