IN THE WINTER YOU SHOW UP

Do you trust his faithfulness or are you so caught up in your own?

Sometimes I forget how faithful our God is because I'm trying so hard to uphold my own side. God isn't a God who abandons his kids. His heart cries for sonship, he desires to stand in the gap for us. 

Deuteronomy 31:8: says, “It is the Lord who goes before you. He will be with you; he will not leave you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.” 

Let's talk about wintertime, and I'm not talking about wintertime in the physical, I'm talking about when your life feels so desolate and hopeless. Some trials or situations may feel like you're unable to produce fruit. Not to sound morbid. Trials can feel lonely and hard, but sacrifice is letting go of what the world has to offer and surrendering fully to the will of the Lord. 

Pruning- to trim a tree, shrub, or bush by cutting away dead or overgrown branches or stems, especially to increase fruitfulness and growth. It feels lonely in the suffering and pruning season. Each twig taken off is thrown into the pile. Growing. Taller and taller. Where there is great sacrifice, there is immense maturity and sometimes that sacrifice feels like letting go of big things that have been foundational to you your whole life. Foundational to your faith since the beginning. Foundational to your relationships. Foundational to your routine. However we have a promise, nothing the faithful man does goes in vain. GOD NEVER FORSAKES YOU!! He is our prince of peace and longs to be our rock and fortress. One Psalm that has stuck with me in the midst of trials is Psalm 18:2. 

“The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.” Run to Him, He is our stronghold. The more hopeless you feel, the closer you need to get to His heart. Fight in intimacy with the Father. When you feel like you're so alone or your life is falling apart in your fingers, it's an invitation to lay your head on His chest and feel His heartbeat. It's not an invitation to sulk in the situation. 

What is your battle cry? Praise? Worship? Fear? Flesh? Your answer to that question is important. 

Let's take some time now to evaluate our hearts, in the midst of the winter:

-LET IT BE UNTO HIM NOT UNTO ME.

Recognize any pride in your heart. Maybe you're in the victim mindset, maybe you find satisfaction in how other people view your strength and will-power to walk through something hard, maybe it's hard to let go of control.

-ARE YOU LISTENING? 

Cultivating intimacy in the secret place is essential to recognizing His voice. Decisions determine our destiny. Do you want to be completely sold out for the Lord walking in obedience even though it's the harder choice? Matthew 7:13-14 “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it.  But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it”. It's an honor to walk the narrow road. I want what He has for me, not what I think is best for myself. 

-ARE YOU UNCOMFORTABLE? 

Trust Him, for all your days, don't be mad when He pushes you out of your comfort zone, look for the opportunity in it. There's growth in the uncomfortability. 

THE FASTER WE POSITION OUR HEARTS THE FASTER HIS WILL CAN BE DONE.

 The remnant are the ones that press into Him when suffering comes, obedience is His ultimate desire. Hebrews 12:29, “for our God is a consuming fire”.

His fire purifies us, He won't quit until we look like Him. He burns off anything that isn't of Him and doesn't glorify Him. There is purpose in the suffering, we have an invitation to recognize how He's working even in desperation. Remember, after winter…  spring always comes.

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Lord, thank you that I can trust you. Thank you that your faithfulness far exceeds what I could ever imagine. Thank you for being my provider, thank you that you always come through. Thank you that I am never abandoned by you. Lord, may everything come into alignment with your will. May my walking in alignment grow into maturity. Lord help me to stay pure and unstained by the world, help me to not pick up stuff that's not of you. Thank you Jesus for your promise of spring time. Thank you that we don't have to stay in the winter, you desire for us to produce fruit. Thank you for all you teach me and all you walk me through. I love you.