Spiritual winters

Much of the US is experiencing record low temperatures, and many parts are getting hit with some serious snow and icy conditions. Winter has definitely arrived. While the more southern states are expected to see more reasonable conditions soon, other areas are going to suffer with more cold weather and wintery conditions. I can remember a time when I enjoyed colder weather and snow, but that was many decades ago! 

Eventually, it will be spring and summer again. The birds will be singing, the sun shining, and the fish will be biting. Maybe I'll even get back on the golf course again. 

But, what do you do when you go through a spiritual winter? How do you hold on to God during those times?

Spiritual winters can come into our lives in many different ways. They can come when we lose someone we loved very much. They can be the result of dreams that we realize will never be fulfilled. Spiritual winters can happen when we lose a job or the doctor calls with lab results you were not expecting or a child takes a different path than you planned. I experienced a spiritual winter after closing a business that caused us serious financial problems. Regardless of the cause, spiritual winters cause us to feel that God is so far away that we're not sure we will ever find Him again.

Various Psalms were written by people going through spiritual winters. They could not find God in the midst of their problems. The books of Lamentations and Ecclesiastes describe spiritual winters. Job is another biblical example of someone experiencing a spiritual winter who wondered where God was in the midst of his trials. When the Israelites were led away into captivity they felt that God was far off and had abandoned them. Spiritual winters are nothing new.

What each of these biblical writers learned, and can teach us, is that God is not far away, and He has not abandoned us in our spiritual winters. He is just as close to us during the valley times in our lives as He is during our mountaintop experiences. Even though we may not feel Him as much as we do in our better times, He is still there.

So, what did they do? They kept seeking God. They continued to pray. They continued to worship, and eventually they came through that wintery time in their lives and experienced victory. That's also how I came through my own winter time. When we are unable to feel God close by it's necessary, by faith, to keep praying, keep worshiping and keep seeking God. It will be an act of faith because, if you are like me and others in the Scriptures, you may not feel His presence during this time, but in His time He will show Himself strong in your life once again.