As we start the new year, many of us are feeling the lull of the cold weather and the season that can many times feel like waiting. Waiting for something to come. It can be a season of hardship, of literal coldness, but also a season of barrenness within. I know for me that this is the season when I like to hibernate away and isolate just because of the weather, but with time this can feel lonely and hard. With short days and long nights, it is easy to be more consumed with feelings that bring weight. I find that winter is a time that can be difficult for many people, especially here in Michigan where it is perpetually dark and dreary. Winter brings with it a time of natural hibernation and with it rest.
Rest is a needed practice in our lives and winter allows space for this to live. It provides a time for rejuvenation from the weariness of life and allows us to sink into a peaceful place that fosters gentler rhythms that prepare us for the beginning of something new. God designed seasons. We see this in nature around us. The plants boast of God’s design with seasons of new life, seasons of colorful beauty & abundance, seasons of harvest and transition, and then the season of dormancy. In the quietness that comes from winter is time for reflection, rest and restoration. It allows for time to recuperate from the busyness of the other seasons of life and allows up to begin preparing for what will come next. It is a time where we can store up energy & grow so that we can be ready for the new season that God is leading us toward. This time of waiting for us is a time when we can be formed in the quiet and stillness.
With waiting, there is the learning of patience. God allows us to go through these seasons of waiting so that we can grow in our dependence on him for our sustenance. This waiting can be long and arduous. It brings us to a place of stillness that can be uncomfortable and pushes us to lay down the pretenses that we can do life on our own. Without seeing what is coming next, the waiting causes us to grow in our faith and to trust that God’s promises of a better tomorrow are coming. There is hope in these times even when it is hard to see. Lamentations 3:25 reminds us that when we seek him & put our hope in him, he is good to us. Isaiah 40:13 further shows us that in this hoping, our strength is renewed and can be found in the Lord. While we wait, we learn how to be intimate with God, bringing our full selves to him. In this authentic presence our guards are let down, our perceptions of what will happen in our lives are shed, and our hearts shift to be more like God’s. Waiting on the Lord takes courage, strength, and involves a hopeful trust that in the waiting, God is working and putting together details that are far greater than we can conceive.
God is outside of our time and operates on his own timeline. When we are in the seasons that seem dormant, there continues to be an active movement from God. Have you ever had those times when you are waiting and praying and after long periods of seemingly hearing nothing or the answer of “no” or “not yet”, there are sudden moments that change everything? God works in appointed times, or “Kairos”. Kairos refers to the crucial, opportune, appointed moments when God works. His timing for our lives and for him to answer our prayers are strategic to His plan, not our own. These moments are like “God suddenness”, they are destiny shifting and divine in nature. They often call us to respond with swiftness and result in new seasons, new life, and transformation. From these moments, there is a bursting forth of newness. They are the answer to the waiting.
So as you are in the seasons of winter and waiting, take heart and know that God sees you. He isn’t far and distant and though it may feel like you are never going to see the other side, God is working. This season is special, designed by God and integral to his plans for you. Instead of focusing on the frustration of not seeing what is next, not knowing the answer you crave to know, of feeling like there is no way up from here, focus on being with him. Waiting patiently on him (Psalm 37:7) so that he can renew you, refresh your spirit, and bring you to a place of new life.
