“‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.'” (Jeremiah 29:11)
It definitely looked like winter…the foliage was off the trees, the bushes were bare, and things looked rather dead. Yep, wintertime.
What was going on in the physical realm seemed to parallel what was going on in the spiritual realm with me. I couldn’t help but think about the analogy and how I felt as though I were in the dead of winter.
Probably it is just a dry phase, I figured. Farmers would probably agree that crops have to have a rest. They can’t grow continually all the time; they have to rotate their crops and fields. Growing and activity take energy, so in between it is critical there is a resting phase if we want good results.
Several years ago there was a popular song, called The Rose.* An excerpt from the lyrics: “love, it is a flower, and you its only seed. Just remember in the winter, far beneath the bitter snow, lies the seed that with the sun’s love, in the spring becomes the rose.”
If you are in a dry, resting place like wintertime, let me encourage you that spring is coming. For sure.
Thank you Lord.
*by Amanda McBroom, popularized by Bette Midler