Winter Has Arrived!

by Terri Clark @TerriClarkTCM

Even when I walk through the darkest valley, I will not be afraid, for you are close beside me. Your rod and your staff protect and comfort me.  Psalm 23:4 (NLT)

My back yard is blanketed in white and the cat’s water bowl is frozen over. I don’t need a weather report to tell me winter has arrived. Sometimes I find it hard to adjust to the changing seasons. I want it to stay warm a little bit longer. But after the first frost hit, I knew it was time to pull out the heavy coat, sweaters, boots and gloves, and put away the sleeveless shirts and shorts.

Seasons change and we have no choice but to go along with them. In life, we go through seasonal changes as well. In fact, I’m going through one right now, and there’s nothing I can do about it. My dear friend just moved away—nearly 1,000 miles from here. She and her husband moved to be near their three daughters and grandchildren. Having my own family around me is one of my greatest joys, so I completely understand and I’m happy for them. But it doesn’t make the season any less cold.

Nancy and I have known each other for decades and have traveled across the globe many times together. She knows my bad habits and I know hers—and we’re fine with them. We talk easily about just about anything; family, ministry, missions, cultural challenges, or family. Of course every conversation was always over a steaming cup of tea—some we brought from other nations. My husband jokingly calls us tea snobs, and we’re okay with that too. A friendship like ours is a gift.

Seasonal changes occur in everyone’s life from time to time; job changes, loss, divorce, remarriage, retirement, caring for aging parents, health challenges, and good friends moving away. But God is there for us in every season. I love the picture of comfort and protection Psalm 23:4 paints for us: “Even when I walk through the darkest [or coldest!] valley, I will not be afraid, for you are close beside me. Your rod and your staff protect and comfort me” (NLT).

We can be encouraged by the fact that we are on God’s mind. Jeremiah 29:11 (AKJV) says, “I know the thoughts that I think toward you, said the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.” I love that God is thinking good thoughts toward us, thoughts of peace. He’s not trying to pull the rug out from under our feet—even when it feels like it.

For me, this season feels as cold as the frosty air outside, but I am confident that it is just a season, and seasons change. Spring follows winter. I’ve had many winter seasons in life, some colder than others, but God always brings an unexpected positive end. The key is in bundling up in the warmth of His love, meditating on the promises of His Word, and in taking just one day at a time until you begin to thaw.

It’s like a good book: as one chapter ends, another begins. Each chapter builds upon the last until the whole story is told. If you’re feeling the chill of a winter season in your life, be encouraged, fix a cup of tea, and warm up in the love of God.

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Winter Has Arrived! – encouragement from @TerriClarkTCM on @AriseDailyDevo (Click to Tweet)

About the author: Terri Clark works with women to prepare and equip them to receive God and the blessings He wants to produce in their lives. She began to answer God’s call on her life in 1994 and has since impacted women all over the world with His news of salvation, edification, and healing.

Her book, Fanning the Flame: Reigniting Your Faith in God, identifies and addresses the issues which most affect a believer’s spiritual flame: the busyness of life, Christian service, pride, and worldly temptations. Join her in this pilgrimage and reignite your spiritual lamp with a fresh, empowering faith–a faith that will stand through a time of testing.

Join the conversation: What season are you in right now?