Jeremiah 1:11-12, “Moreover, the word of the Lord came to me, saying, Jeremiah, WHAT DO YOU SEE? And I said, I SEE a branch or shoot of an almond tree [the emblem of alertness and activity, BLOSSOMING IN LATE WINTER]. Then said the Lord to me, YOU HAVE SEEN WELL, FOR I AM ALERT AND ACTIVE, WATCHING OVER MY WORD TO PERFORM IT!” (AMP).
Far too often we quickly get upset over the Bad, not realizing that it usually leads to something Good! Most of us have lived long enough to see it happen – something Good coming out of something that’s Bad, or even difficult and unpleasant. Therefore, if you’re in a season in your life that’s pretty cold right now, and you’re feeling the chill of crisis; the breeze of bitterness; the winds of worry; the damp of depression; the ice of irritation; the blizzard of backbiters; the storms of struggle; and the rains of restlessness, know That Even When The Conditions Of The Season Restrict You, They Can Never Constrict Your God!
You see, the word “RESTRICT” means: “TO PUT A LIMIT ON, KEEP UNDER CONTROL, DEPRIVE OF FREEDOM OF MOVEMENT OR ACTION” It’s Latin Origin ‘RESTRINGERE’ literally means ‘TO TIE BACK’. We’ve seen that in many winter seasons, as the blizzards hit we’re RESTRICTED in bus, cab, and train service. We’re LIMITED in various methods of transportation, and KEPT UNDER THE CONTROL of snow plows as to when we could move, and how far we could go. FREEDOM OF MOVEMENT AND ACTION was DEPRIVED for so many who couldn’t get to where they needed to, because they’d been “RESTRICTED”. Which is where we coined the phrase: “MY HANDS ARE TIED!”
But bear in mind, that even when we’re ‘RESTRICTED’, God is NEVER ‘CONSTRICTED’! The word ‘CONSTRICTED’ means: “TO MAKE OR BECOME NARROWER, ESPECIALLY BY ENCIRCLING PRESSURE OR ATTEMPTING TO TIGHTEN AROUND”. It’s Latin Origin ‘CONSTRINGERE’ literally means to ‘BIND TIGHTLY TOGETHER’. You see, YOUR GOD IS TOO BIG TO BE MADE NARROW, AND HE’S TOO POWERFUL FOR PRESSURE TO PLACE HIM IN A TIGHT GRIP! EVEN IN SEASONS WHERE YOU’RE ‘RESTRICTED’, TAKE COMFORT IN KNOWING THAT YOUR GOD IS NEVER ‘CONSTRICTED’! EVEN WHEN YOUR HANDS ARE TIED, HIS WILL NEVER BE! REGARDLESS TO THE CONDITION, HE CAN STILL BLESS YOU IN THE MIDST OF YOUR MOST BRITTLE, BITTER AND BRUTAL BLIZZARD! YOUR GOD IS TOO POWERFUL TO BE PRESSURED! EVEN WHEN YOU GROW WEAK, NEVER FORGET THE STRENGTH OF YOUR GOD!
DAVID DIDN’T! 1 Chronicles 29:10-13, “David blessed GOD in full view of the entire congregation: Blessed are you, GOD of Israel, our father from of old and forever. To You, O GOD, belong the Greatness and the Might, the Glory, the Victory, the Majesty, the Splendor; Yes! Everything in Heaven, everything on Earth; the Kingdom all Yours! You’ve raised Yourself High Over All. Riches and Glory come from You, You’re Ruler Over All; You hold Strength and Power in the Palm of Your Hand to Build Up and Strengthen All. And here we are, O God, our God, giving thanks to You, praising Your Splendid Name.” (MSG)
EVEN WHEN IT DON’T FEEL LIKE IT’S IN YOUR FAVOR, BECAUSE HE’S YOUR GOD…IT IS!
DON’T LET THE WINTER SEASON WORRY YOU, EVERY SEASON HAS TO CHANGE! BUT DON’T MISS OUT ON THE BLESSING AND BENEFITS OF THE COLD SEASON WHILE IT’S HERE!
James 1:2-4, “Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides. You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors. SO DON’T TRY TO GET OUT OF ANYTHING PREMATURELY. LET IT DO ITS WORK SO YOU BECOME MATURE AND WELL-DEVELOPED, NOT DEFICIENT IN ANY WAY” (MSG)
One phrase you will hear repetitively during the Winter Season is “I’ll be glad when Winter is over”. But the problem of getting “Out of Season”, Prematurely, is not good. Here’s why: “To everything there is a season” (Ecclesiastes 3:1). So no matter how hard you pray, You Can’t Pray Your Life’s Seasons Away! There Are Some Situations You Aren’t Meant To Change—You’re Just Meant To Endure! 2 Timothy 2:3, “Take [with me] YOUR SHARE of the hardships and suffering [Which You Are CALLED TO ENDURE] as a good (first-class) soldier of Christ Jesus.” (AMP) Paul puts it like this, “For Our Light, Momentary Affliction (This Slight Distress of the Passing Hour) is ever more and more Abundantly Preparing and Producing and Achieving For Us an Everlasting Weight of Glory [Beyond All Measure, Excessively Surpassing All Comparisons and All Calculations, a Vast and Transcendent Glory and Blessedness Never to Cease.” (2 Corinthians 4:17 AMP). In other words, what you’re Currently dealing with that’s Heavily Weighing You Down in the Natural, is considered by the Spirit “…Our Light, Momentary Affliction…” Therefore, you’re not going to deal with it always, But You Have to Deal With It Right Now! So keep in mind, When You Can’t Alter Your Circumstances, That Means They Are a Perfect Fit For Where You Are and Where You’re Going. So Stop Trying to Change Your Circumstantial Clothing! They are only for a Season, and when it’s time to Change, the One who birthed all the Seasons will change it! “Don’t try to get out of anything Prematurely.”
In Winter, trees take advantage of the season to rebuild their strength and prepare to be fruitful next season. Their sap and substance goes underground. Then in the Spring it pushes its way back up again in the form of New Growth. Looking back over your life you’ll find that your achievements are Seasonal. Growth comes, then struggle, and vice versa. Each Season Has Its Purpose. God has a reason for not allowing you to be productive all the time. When He permits Winter winds to blow through your life, He’s preparing you for the coming Spring. That’s why James wrote, “Consider it a …gift…when tests and challenges come at you from all sides…under pressure, your faith…is forced into the open and shows its true colors. So Don’t Try to Get Out of Anything Prematurely. Let It Do Its Work So You Become Mature and Well-Developed, Not Deficient In Any Way” (MSG). One of the issues you’ll struggle with in a waiting period is the urge to Hurry, Because Your Flesh Always Wants to Make Permanent Decisions Based On Temporary Circumstances. Don’t Do It! Every Situation Doesn’t Call For Immediate Action! The Only Biblical Way For You to Become Mature, Well-Developed and Lacking Nothing Is To Endure Hardship! So if you try to find a short-cut to getting out of your trials, You’ll Have to Take a Longer Journey to Get to Your Destiny!
REMEMBER: THE COLD SEASON GETS RID OF BUGS (AND WHAT’S ‘BUGGING’ YOU), SO DON’T RUSH IT, LET IT COMPLETE ITS WORK!
Somebody has said that, patience is the quality you admire in the driver behind, but not the guy in front! But God Is a God of Order; He Ordains Specific Times For Bringing Specific Purposes to Pass! Habakkuk 2:3, “This vision-message is a witness pointing to what’s coming. It aches for the coming—it can hardly wait! And it doesn’t lie. If it seems slow in coming, wait. It’s on its way. It Will Come Right On Time.” (MSG) It doesn’t pay to try and get ahead of God, so, “Wait and hope for and expect the Lord; be brave and of good courage and let your heart be stout and enduring. Yes, wait for and hope for and expect the Lord.” (Psalm 27:14 AMP) That word “stout” is defined as, “to be rather fat or heavily built; sturdy and thick; to be brave; courageous; strong and determined.” This needs to define your heart condition (as well as your faith) as you wait on God!
It needs to be unshaken; heavily built; sturdy; brave; courageous; strong and determined, despite what you have to endure while waiting! Remember, this isn’t about Your timing but God’s! So let nothing move you, but God! Because in the end, there are simply certain things that can’t be accomplished “by might, nor by power.” So how are they accomplished? “By MY Spirit, saith the LORD.”
David understood this, that’s why he said, “My times are in YOUR hands…” (Psalm 31:15). Once you understand that, you’ll stop fretting and worrying knowing with certainty that people and problems can’t short-circuit God’s plan for your life. “This is God’s Word on the subject…I’ll show up and take care of you as I promised and bring you back home. I KNOW WHAT I’M DOING. I HAVE IT ALL PLANNED OUT – PLANS TO TAKE CARE OF YOU, NOT ABANDON YOU, PLANS TO GIVE YOU THE FUTURE YOU HOPE FOR.” (Jeremiah 29:11 MSG) If you can acknowledge that, you’ll find peace—and stop trying to “make things happen, out of season!” Do Your Part: WAIT! God Already Has His Part PLANNED!
When God drops a seed into your life it needs time to take root and grow. And you don’t have to be concerned with the outcome, because when it’s planted in a fertile, faith-filled heart, the results are guaranteed. The hard part is knowing that you’re on the verge of a breakthrough, then having God tell you to Wait. But it’s times like these, when you think He’s forgotten about you and the promises He made to you, that your patience really gets a workout. It’s in moments like these when your heart begins to faint and your faith begins to waver. But take some advice from David, he said: “I waited patiently and expectantly for the Lord; and He inclined to me and heard my cry. He drew me up out of a horrible pit [a pit of tumult and of destruction], out of the miry clay (froth and slime), and set my feet upon a rock, steadying my steps and establishing my goings. And He has put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God. Many shall see and fear (revere and worship) and put their trust and confident reliance in the Lord.” (Psalm 40:1-3 AMPC). When you honor God’s timing, you always land on solid ground, and end up with a fresh reason to praise Him! In other words, it’s not enough to wait, but you have to wait the right way…Patiently and In Praise! Just ask JOSEPH!
The Book of Genesis tells us about a very long winter season in the life of this Old Testament hero. In a nutshell, his brothers hated him because he was his father’s favorite. They threw him in a pit and nearly let him die there. At the last minute, they changed their minds and lightened up a little – they settled for selling him into Egyptian slavery instead. Joseph got a great job in the house of a powerful man, and then lost it when he refused the advances of the boss’s wife and she falsely accused him of assaulting her. Then, two long years in the king’s prison as a result. Ultimately, Joseph came to the attention of Pharaoh who eventually promoted him to second in command in the mighty Egyptian empire. That’s when a famine drove Joseph’s brothers to Egypt in search of food – FOOD ONLY THE BROTHER THEY HAD BETRAYED COULD GIVE THEM BY THE WAY! (SIDEBAR: NEVER HATE YOUR HATERS!) And when they finally realize who he is and experience the forgiveness and mercy that they DON’T DESERVE, Joseph speaks these words: “YOU PLANNED EVIL AGAINST ME; GOD PLANNED IT FOR GOOD TO BRING ABOUT THE PRESENT RESULT—THE SURVIVAL OF MANY PEOPLE.” (Genesis 50:20 HCSB). The Message Bible says it like this: “…Don’t you see, you planned evil against me BUT GOD USED THOSE SAME PLANS FOR MY GOOD…” (MSG). Even though your winter is “PLANNED”, scheduled annually to come back around, NEVER FORGET THAT YOUR GOD ALWAYS HAS PLANS OF HIS OWN FOR YOU! “…I KNOW WHAT I’M DOING. I HAVE IT ALL PLANNED OUT—PLANS TO TAKE CARE OF YOU, NOT ABANDON YOU, PLANS TO GIVE YOU THE FUTURE YOU HOPE FOR” (Jeremiah 29:11 MSG).
WHAT THE WEATHER (AND YOUR HATERS) HAVE PLANNED FOR YOU CAN’T COMPARE TO WHAT THE WILL OF GOD HAS PLANNED FOR YOU! FROM THE PIT TO THE PRISON, JOSEPH WAS SUSTAINED BY ONE THING HE KNEW HAD NOT CHANGED—GOD WAS WORKING ON A BIGGER PLAN! If you belong to Jesus, then Joseph’s God is your God, too. And He’s a God who uses even the wickedness of man to do great things. For Joseph, vengeful brothers, false accusations, and terrible injustices BECAME TOOLS THAT GOD USED TO TAKE HIM TO PLACES AND POSITIONS HE COULD NEVER HAVE GONE OTHERWISE! WHICH IS WHY I REITERATE: DON’T LET THE WINTER BOTHER YOU, BECAUSE IT’S KILLING WHAT’S BUGGING YOU!
If it’s cold right now, if it’s dark right now, don’t let discouragement win. Don’t let bitterness or resentment or resignation ruin the greater plan God is working on. Romans 8:28, “We are assured and know that [God being a partner in their labor] all things work together and are [fitting into a PLAN] for good to and for those who love God and are called according to [His] design and purpose.” (AMP). During this winter in your life, He wants to build in you qualities that will lead to future greatness. He wants to give you a closeness to Him that you’ve never had before and would never get any other way. And then, He wants to use this season to position you to make a greater difference with the rest of your life than you ever imagined! As Cold as it may seem right now, God is working out some pretty Cool plans for your life! Regardless to what the Meteorologist tells you, There Is A Sunny Side to a Cold Season!
In closing, listen to this: King George and his army must have been having a good laugh. You see, George Washington and his Continental Army had been whipped in battle after battle in their campaign to become independent from Britain. British troops had driven the Americans out of New York City, across the Hudson River, across New Jersey, and finally into Pennsylvania. THEN CAME THE WINTER OF 1777, at a place outside of Philadelphia called Valley Forge. Washington’s troops faced not only a Physical Winter there, but an Emotional Winter. Discouragement and defeat may have been their worst enemies. But General Washington wasn’t about to let those enemies win. He fought back by immediately deploying his soldiers to fortifying their camp. Then the drills began. A veteran European military officer began to drill those soldiers every day, teaching them a single set of maneuvers rather than the multiple approaches that had created confusion in those past battles. THAT WINTER, they were learning one way of doing things while Washington worked on getting more recruits and building his army into a real fighting force. Many historians believe that the outcome of America’s battle for independence was decided at Valley Forge more than any other battle – they were an army that came out of Valley Forge to stun the British with major victories! You see, one army WENT INTO THE WINTER at Valley Forge – divided, discouraged, demoralized. However, another army EMERGED FROM THAT WINTER – unified, fortified, and confident because of what they had done with their WINTER!
In many ways, the outcome of your battles may be decided, not on the battlefield alone, BUT IN HOW YOU WORK YOUR WINTER. And truth is, you may be in one of those cold, bleak Winter times right now. You could succumb to your fears and your feelings and just surrender. OR you could pull a “Spiritual Valley Forge.” You could use your Winter to get stronger and more focused on what you need to do to win!
In some ways, Jesus’ disciples expected their Winter to begin with His announced departure to heaven. The One who had called them to be with Him was now leaving them and entrusting to them the work He had started. In Luke 24, Jesus tells them to tell the world about Him and then, “…while He was blessing them, He left them and was taken up into heaven.” In a way, their Winter had begun, as it often does when you lose someone you love. But they knew what to do with their Winter! In the book of Acts chapters 1 and 2 teach us what they did to Work Their Winter Season, “they all joined together constantly in prayer.” Then they got their team of 12 back to full strength by replacing Judas with another disciple. And, “When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place…and all of them were filled with the Holy Spirit.” At that point, they exploded on the city of Jerusalem with the Gospel that would, that day, start spreading around the world! But they had to use their Winter to get together, to regroup, to get stronger, and to get closer to God. You need to handle your Winter the same way. Don’t just sit there worrying or feeling sorry for yourself or wallowing in your emotions. Take action to get strong. Spend extra time with God right now. Strengthen your relationship with your family, friends, co-workers and church family. Think through what you need to stop doing and what you need to start doing to focus on what really matters. And prayerfully plan for a future, right there in the middle of your valley, even when the future looks very uncertain.
Blessings
J.P. Olson
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