Producing Springtime in a Winter Season
This month we are continuing to expand on our theme for this year of UNWAVERING. This is such an important posture for all of us in a world that is rapidly and constantly changing. Stability and certainty can be ours, even when everything around us in shifting. (1 Corinthians 15:58 BBE)
Winter is not my favorite season. With its shorter daylight hours and very cold temperatures, it makes me long for the return of spring and new life. This is not unlike seasons when we feel stagnate or stuck; when it feels as if everything around us is on hold (frozen) and change is long off. I was reading some familiar passages when I ran across an interesting concept from the Passion Translation that gave me a new perspective. (Proverbs 4:23 TPT)
This particular verse had a footnote on the word “wellspring.” It reads: “Although most translations have ‘the issues of life,’ the Hebrew word yasa is actually ‘seasons,’ especially springtime. Out of your heart flow the seasons of life. It is our hearts, not our ages or circumstances, that shape the seasons of our lives. If our hearts are tender to God, we can live in perpetual springtime.” (Simmons, Brian, “The Passion Translation New Testament (2020 Edition): With Psalms, Proverbs and Song of Songs,” p. 1789. Kindle Edition).
For someone who perpetually dreads winter, this lit a spark in my heart and revelation literally exploded. We know that we don’t have to live in subjection to our circumstances and we can live above them, however, this correlation with winter and springtime put a fresh twist on it for me! Although we may be living through a winter season, we can still exist in perpetual springtime! How can we practically do that when things seem so dark, unchanging, and very stuck? The rest of that passage in Proverbs gives us some great ways to help us do just that! (Proverbs 4:20-22 TPT)
This is a key for producing springtime in winter! We must fill our hearts with the Word of God! It has been said “feed your faith and starve your fears!” Everything on the external is trying to get us to believe things that are contrary to the promises of God. The cold winds of “impossible” blow against our faith and we feel frozen in our present. In contrast, God’s Word will melt the coldness in our hearts and begin to bring forth new life as we let His Words infiltrate the soil of our belief system, becoming not only the source but the fuel for the production of those promises! As fear is snuffed out by the power of God’s promises, our perspective will begin to align with His and we can have joy and gratitude, even in the most contrary circumstances.
This is critical in a dark season. We often think that we cannot have these 2 things in such a cold place. Wrong thinking about joy makes us think it is dependent on our circumstances; but we have joy in spite of our circumstances because we have His Word! (Jeremiah 15:16)
Our outlook absolutely and unconditionally will be impacted by our Word intake! This brings us to the second aspect that will aid us in our winter waiting season and that is gratitude. Even science is beginning to take note of the benefits of being grateful! We ALWAYS have something to be grateful for. A good practice is to recount at least 5 things, (we have way more if we have breath), to be grateful for and recount them daily! God is impacting and infiltrating our lives in many, many ways each day through beauty and provision. Let’s turn our attention and hearts to giving Him thanks for the much He provides!!
Proverbs 4 continues with a few more directives that we will find helpful in producing springtime in our winter season. (Proverbs 4:25-27 TPT)
Where or what we focus on is absolutely critical to our well-being in our winter seasons. We can murmur and complain (Not a good idea! That added 40 years to the Israelites 11-day journey through the wilderness!) or we keep our focus on where the Lord is taking us. I’ve always said when you’re going through hell, don’t stop. God wants to take us through challenging seasons – not have us set up camp there! (Psalm 23:4 The Message Bible)
We are called to go through!! This verse out of the Passion Translation is absolutely powerful! (Proverbs 4:24 TPT)
This particular translation reveals that fear is a real enemy especially in the winter season. Will it always be this way? Will spring ever come? Will we see the promises? We must lean on the nearness of the Lord! We can do this specifically through His promises! Leaning on His promises will strengthen us and reinforce our focus on the right things! Some of which are: God and His faithfulness to us and His Word and His Presence with us in the midst of our difficulty! Here are some specific promises that are particularly reassuring in our winter season! (Psalm 20:4; 2 Samuel 7:28; Psalm 103:6 The Message Bible)
Let’s ignore the distractions! That is anything that takes your focus and your worship off of God! The Father is calling us to draw near and have our hearts warmed by the springtime He is producing in our souls!! (Proverbs 4:23 The Message)
Winter is not my favorite season. With its shorter daylight hours and very cold temperatures, it makes me long for the return of spring and new life. This is not unlike seasons when we feel stagnate or stuck; when it feels as if everything around us is on hold (frozen) and change is long off. I was reading some familiar passages when I ran across an interesting concept from the Passion Translation that gave me a new perspective. (Proverbs 4:23 TPT)
This particular verse had a footnote on the word “wellspring.” It reads: “Although most translations have ‘the issues of life,’ the Hebrew word yasa is actually ‘seasons,’ especially springtime. Out of your heart flow the seasons of life. It is our hearts, not our ages or circumstances, that shape the seasons of our lives. If our hearts are tender to God, we can live in perpetual springtime.” (Simmons, Brian, “The Passion Translation New Testament (2020 Edition): With Psalms, Proverbs and Song of Songs,” p. 1789. Kindle Edition).
For someone who perpetually dreads winter, this lit a spark in my heart and revelation literally exploded. We know that we don’t have to live in subjection to our circumstances and we can live above them, however, this correlation with winter and springtime put a fresh twist on it for me! Although we may be living through a winter season, we can still exist in perpetual springtime! How can we practically do that when things seem so dark, unchanging, and very stuck? The rest of that passage in Proverbs gives us some great ways to help us do just that! (Proverbs 4:20-22 TPT)
This is a key for producing springtime in winter! We must fill our hearts with the Word of God! It has been said “feed your faith and starve your fears!” Everything on the external is trying to get us to believe things that are contrary to the promises of God. The cold winds of “impossible” blow against our faith and we feel frozen in our present. In contrast, God’s Word will melt the coldness in our hearts and begin to bring forth new life as we let His Words infiltrate the soil of our belief system, becoming not only the source but the fuel for the production of those promises! As fear is snuffed out by the power of God’s promises, our perspective will begin to align with His and we can have joy and gratitude, even in the most contrary circumstances.
This is critical in a dark season. We often think that we cannot have these 2 things in such a cold place. Wrong thinking about joy makes us think it is dependent on our circumstances; but we have joy in spite of our circumstances because we have His Word! (Jeremiah 15:16)
Our outlook absolutely and unconditionally will be impacted by our Word intake! This brings us to the second aspect that will aid us in our winter waiting season and that is gratitude. Even science is beginning to take note of the benefits of being grateful! We ALWAYS have something to be grateful for. A good practice is to recount at least 5 things, (we have way more if we have breath), to be grateful for and recount them daily! God is impacting and infiltrating our lives in many, many ways each day through beauty and provision. Let’s turn our attention and hearts to giving Him thanks for the much He provides!!
Proverbs 4 continues with a few more directives that we will find helpful in producing springtime in our winter season. (Proverbs 4:25-27 TPT)
Where or what we focus on is absolutely critical to our well-being in our winter seasons. We can murmur and complain (Not a good idea! That added 40 years to the Israelites 11-day journey through the wilderness!) or we keep our focus on where the Lord is taking us. I’ve always said when you’re going through hell, don’t stop. God wants to take us through challenging seasons – not have us set up camp there! (Psalm 23:4 The Message Bible)
We are called to go through!! This verse out of the Passion Translation is absolutely powerful! (Proverbs 4:24 TPT)
This particular translation reveals that fear is a real enemy especially in the winter season. Will it always be this way? Will spring ever come? Will we see the promises? We must lean on the nearness of the Lord! We can do this specifically through His promises! Leaning on His promises will strengthen us and reinforce our focus on the right things! Some of which are: God and His faithfulness to us and His Word and His Presence with us in the midst of our difficulty! Here are some specific promises that are particularly reassuring in our winter season! (Psalm 20:4; 2 Samuel 7:28; Psalm 103:6 The Message Bible)
Let’s ignore the distractions! That is anything that takes your focus and your worship off of God! The Father is calling us to draw near and have our hearts warmed by the springtime He is producing in our souls!! (Proverbs 4:23 The Message)
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