Spiritual Growth During the “Winter Seasons” of Life
Have you experienced those times when life around you suddenly begins to fall apart? Like you are doing everything right and things are sailing along; then you notice one step forward becomes two steps backwards? The things that have been working fine, aren’t working anymore. Stuff you had been holding easily began to drop all over the place? You feel like no matter what you do, no one sees what’s happening—or worse, no one cares.
Me too. Spiritual winter is coming.
It’s easy to feel like there is zero good taking place during these “winter seasons” of life. Everything feels dead, dreary, and dark. There is nothing new or exciting happening and no fruit in sight. But what if I told you that this is actually one of the most important—and beautiful—seasons in both nature and in life? It’s true.
Out with the Old
In nature, we just accept winter. We often even celebrate the lead-up to it. Fall is actually my absolute favorite season, with the beautiful changing leaves, the cooling temps, and the days beginning to shorten. We know the world around us isn’t really dying, it’s just getting rid of used up things and preparing to hibernate for a few months. Winter is coming right on time, so we don’t panic.
But in our spiritual lives, it’s different. When things begin to change—when relationships seem to die or the progress we felt we were making starts to slow down—it creates instant panic and sometimes even fear. Spiritual winters aren’t usually celebrated at all. In fact we tend to fight them and do everything possible to prevent them. Yet, without these seasons of old things dying back, the new things could never grow.
God uses these winter seasons of our lives in much the same way He uses them in nature. He isn’t ignoring us, hasn’t forgotten us and He certainly isn’t punishing us; He is simply asking us to allow Him to do a little decluttering. There are things in our lives that were once beautiful, but now they need to go. (Like half of our closets..). It is a time to loosen our grip on our lives and trust Him to remove the things that are no longer serving us well. Let Him prepare us for the coming Spring season where we won’t just survive—we will thrive.
The Illusion of Brokenness
In our culture, we are obsessed with visible “fruit.” We look at our lives, compare ourselves to others, and ask: Am I enough? Am I moving forward? Is there proof that I am growing? When the answer is “no,” and the branches of our life look a little bare, we assume something is wrong with us. We mistake stillness for brokenness.
But if we look at a tree in the middle of winter, we know it isn’t broken; it’s just dormant. And biologically, dormancy is a very active and important state. While the branches shed their leaves to conserve energy and protect against the cold around it, is the best time to get in there and really prune back all the unhealthy parts of the tree. This can seem extreme but it actually jump starts the real work happening where no one can see.
Underground, the tree is focusing almost all of its energy on its root system. It drives its roots deeper into the soil, anchoring itself more firmly and searching for the water source that will sustain it through the coming warmer months. If the tree tried to bloom now, the conditions around it would kill its leaves and hinder its future growth. It must rest above the ground, looking kinda dead, in order to become stronger below ground so it can develop what’s needed to thrive in the coming season.
You, friend, are a tree.
A Good Pruning
So, when we look around at our life and feel it looks dead or broken, we need to remember what Jesus tells us in John 15:1–2:
“I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.”
This should bring you so much comfort—and even gratitude—for the harsh winter season you are entering. I know firsthand how much it hurts to be pruned; to have dreams, goals, or relationships cut out of our lives because God knew they simply would not produce any fruit. We don’t want Him to come in and start changing all the big plans we had made by taking away our branches. You may like your current branches, maybe they had pretty leaves and made our lives appear lush and full. You’re not willing to let them go because what if those are the only branches in the whole world that will ever be able to make another leaf??!! Panic ensues.
But He does this pruning out of love, so we can produce MORE fruit in the season He has planned for us next! He will not strip our old leaves and cut away our dead branches without plans to give us new ones. He never takes away then abandons us to do without. This is why it’s so important for you to let go of things that are trying to leave your life. The sooner we do the sooner God, the Master Gardener, can begin His delicate work of tending to the soil of our souls. It’s time for Him to add in the fresh fertilizer.
Once all of the noise and distractions, those dead branches and leaves, have been removed from us, the world gets quiet. We can hear His voice more clearly. This is the invitation to enter into true rest in preparation for restoration.
But be warned: This is also the moment the enemy will begin to put lies in your mind. The feelings of abandonment, loneliness, or bitterness that may creep up inside you after pruning are meant to be detours. They lead to places that are in fact a spiritual death not just a winter season. You cannot dwell there. Feel those feelings, acknowledge the pain, thank God for removing things that were no longer needed in your life and then move on. Seek counseling help if you need, I did and it was so life changing.
The replenishing of the Soil
Just like the trees, this is the time to put all your energy into deepening your roots and focusing on connecting to that Living Water that is going to sustain you in the coming season!
Jesus continues in John 15:4–5 saying:
“Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me… If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.“
To me, that’s a beautiful promise. If I keep my eyes on Jesus, if I stay in His Word I will bear much fruit. He didn’t say “sure, maybe you might.” He said you WILL! Lean in and trust that He knows what is best for you even when it hurts. He wants to see you grow, He intends good for you and does not take pleasure in the pruning. In scripture Jesus wept when He saw those He loved hurting but He let them endure it. Because He knew what the faith that pain would produce in them. He knew what appeared dead would live again.
So let me encourage you to settle into the stillness. Let go of the leaves. Don’t cling to dead branches. Focus on your roots. Trust and have faith that this is where God is going to replenish the nutrients that our souls have been depleted of.
Growth is Coming
Not only are we going to bloom again we are going to produce abundant fruit!
- Love
- Joy
- Peace
- Patience
- Kindness
- Goodness
- Faithfulness
- Gentleness
- Self-control
And that my friend, is when life really gets good! In the end winter isn’t about death at all, it’s about total renewal.
If you are in the middle of a spiritual winter right now please know this: You are not forgotten. You are not broken. You are being replenished and strengthened. Don’t rush the process, and don’t fear the future. Let the Gardener do His work, trusting that Spring is coming!
I’d love to hear from you: Are you in a winter season right now? Tell me in the comments below—what is one way you are finding “rest” or trusting God in the waiting this week?
Have a prayer request you would like to keep private? Feel free to contact me here, I would love to pray for you!
Chat again soon.
♡Kim
Wonderful! Such a great encouragement and very well said.
Thank you, friend!