During Winter seasons we find ourselves not really as active as we were in Summer. For us who live in the beautiful Mother City called Cape Town, we go all out when it comes to Summer time. We go on hikes, enjoy the beach, have braai's, random get-togethers and so on. It is a really busy time and there is often no reason to call off the busyness of the season. Everything buzzes in summer.
Winter is often seen in a bad light both in the natural and in the spiritual. It is cold, miserable and not enjoyable really. We are forced to be indoors and we also tend to slow down on life itself.
Just in this week as I observed the changing of the seasons when I took a picture of the autumn leave for Instagram, I was reminded of something the Lord had shared with me a while ago.
The Lord had shown me that Winter is a time for rest. This all made sense for me in the natural, because it is so easy to just snuggle in bed with a warm water bottle and a cup of tea. However, in the spiritual, we tend to view the Winter seasons as a time of fighting with the "whys" and the "hows", but God actually wants us to rest even in those tough crutial times.
How does one rest in Winter seasons?
Just let it all go and trust in the God of the unseen. Remember, just like the amazing Steffany Gretzinger from Bethel Music writes in one of her songs. "He has been a Father for a long, long time. He knows what He is doing". We become so busy with the process of life that God sometimes has to take us through a Winter season where He pushes us in a very uncomfortable place so that we can find rest in Him and also really know how far His strength goes. Instead, we fight God in these seasons, when all He wants is for us to know what true rest is.
A few years ago I had been going through a Winter season with my family. My youngest sister had landed up in Red Cross hospital because of an infection in her abdominal area. They had to undergo a mini-operation and she had spent days in the hospital. Colleagues would come and support, my mom and I would rotate in taking turns to sleepover. This process was so draining to both my body and emotions. Until one day, I had walked to the train station as my mom relieved me. I just told God, "You know what? It is hard to trust you. It is so easy to say that I trust you, but when I actually have to trust you it is difficult". You know as I let go of my hurt and the pain I felt deep in my soul and just became honest with God my Father, there came this supernatural peace over me and calmed all my fears. Soon after that, my sister was released from hospital and all was well.
God had taken me through this process to teach me what it means to be still and know that He is God. This is true rest. That even in the storm of what you are facing. Whether it be physical, financial, spiritual and everyway possible, He has always had your back even until death. He will never forsake or leave you alone.
As Winter approaches, may we find rest in both the natural and the spiritual. That if we are in a Winter season, that we will understand that God is teaching us, it is really okay to rest. It will do you good.
Shalom,
Rowyn Coetzee
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