HOW TO SURVIVE SPIRITUAL WINTER

Ever felt the bite of winter's wind? Maybe you have always lived in the sunshine and have escaped the snow and the sleet. It's unlikely though that you've avoided all the harsh and bleak of life. Spiritual winter, like nature's blizzard, can destroy and kill - freezing families, chilling churches, and cracking communities. How do you cope when the howling winds of discouragement and adversity blow? To survive spiritual winter study these four strategies: PROPER ATTITUDE Winter is not an enemy. Why? "God made winter" (Read Psalm 74:17).The snowpack He sends in winter, waters the valleys on hot summer days. He creates the cold weather that kills pesky bugs. Many flowers He designed demand a winter, or refuse to bloom. However, like southbound snowbirds we tend to shun winter, to avoid the difficult. But hard is not bad, it is just hard. Like the months of cold your spirit's wintertime is not your enemy. Receive the season. Let it kill corrosion of character, bring out the best of blooms, and develop a depth that detours drought. PROPER CLOTHES The amazing woman of Proverbs 31dismissed the wail of wintery winds: "She fears not the snow for her family, for all her household are doubly clothed in scarlet" (Proverbs 31:21). Why did the Holy Spirit tell us how to prepare for winter, also concerning our clothes? (Prov. 6:6) Merely a reminder to bundle up before embracing snow and storm? Hardly. God, like Proverb's virtuous woman, provides double protection from spiritual frostbite for His household so that we can walk through winter without fear. What does His winter wardrobe look like? Scarlet-coloured and doubly thick. He provides both the bloodred robe of righteousness and the garment of praise. Like a cheery fire, praise in dark days warms the soul and lights up life, protecting from spiritual frostbite. Make this double-layered look a must in your winter wear. (It's always "in" - whatever the season!). PROPER LOCATION Moving in winter on slippery roads is inconvenient and dangerous. Do you opt for flight when adversity blows? Like a spiritual snowbird do you refuse to endure the gusts of God? Better wait till spring to decide if God really wants you to head for another place. Paul urged Timothy, "Do your utmost to come before winter" (2 Timothy 4:21). In Acts 27, people insisted on travelling too close to the stormy season. The result? Paul's famous shipwreck. Are you in winter? A change in spouse, church, or address won't cure you. Stay put, pray, and wait for spring! PROPER BELIEF How do you survive winter? Although these wise Welsh word are true: "It's a long road that has no turning," winter is not endless. Let God's promise to Noah be yours: "While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease" (Genesis 8:22). Are you in spiritual winter? Hang on, spring's coming. One day you will look out of the window of your soul and sing with Solomon: "My beloved spoke, and said to me: 'Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away. For lo, the winter is past, The rain is over and gone. The flowers appear on the earth; The time of singing has come, And the voice of the turtle-dove is heard in our land. The fig tree puts forth her green figs, and the vines with the tender grapes give a good smell. Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away!'" (Song of Solomon 2:10-13, NKJV).