See! The winter is past;

the rains are over and gone.

Flowers appear on the earth;

the season of singing has come,

the cooing of doves is heard in our land.

The fig tree forms its early fruit;

the blossoming vines spread their fragrance.

Arise, come, my darling;

my beautiful one, come with me.

– Song of Songs 2:11-13

Life stirs again

Emerging from winter, we look forward to plants revealing that life is stirring once again.

Long winter nights with damp and dark mornings, misty and grey evenings can lower our mood. This is equally true of our spiritual life. We cannot see the hand of God through the fog of our own confusion and uncertainty. The landscape looks drab and offers little by way of hope or encouragement. Our mood sinks and we struggle to sing God’s song in a cold and barren season.

Winter gives way to spring

Yet, even in a barren season, there is always the stirring of God’s Spirit. It may not be evident or obvious. It will demand we seek it and perhaps wait longer than we desire to perceive its initial shoots. Full bloom may well be even further in the future.

In my walk with God, I have learned to live with acute frustration at times, unable to perceive God and his purpose. Yet I continue in the expectation that winter will give way to spring.

Question: What season of the soul are you in right now?

Prayer: Thank you, Lord, for making it possible for us to know you as our heavenly Father and to experience an amazing change in our own life. Amen.

This devotional by Greg Bondar is from Bible Society’s Daily Bible, a selection of 7- and 14-day Bible Reading plans.
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“I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, So that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.”  Ephesians 3:16-19

Photo by Raimond Klavins on Unsplash