As I drove around the city and county today, enjoying the beautiful sunshine which made a welcomed mid-winter appearance, I found myself looking closely at the treed areas. Fall and winter clearly have taken their toll. The areas which are so densely covered with trees and shrubs you can’t ten feet in the summer, are relatively wide open. The leaves from the trees which are now nothing more than barren branches have been pressed to the ground by rain (and more rain), snow and ice. If I didn’t know better, I would think that the trees and scrubs have all died. Even the grassy areas are more yellow than green. To state the obvious, what is normally one of the more beautiful areas of the world, is not looking real great right now.
As I reflected upon the death grip winter has on our area, I felt like the Spirit of God reminded me that what looks like it is dead to me, is actually dormant. As you know, there is a big difference between something being dead, and something being dormant. When something is dead, there is an absence of life. (With brilliant statements like the one I just made you can see that my Masters degree is paying off. J) When something is dormant it still contains the substance of life, it is only temporarily inactive or asleep. The time will come when that which is dormant will awaken to new life.
I want to encourage you to be very careful in pronouncing something dead or, even based on the appearance of things, to assume it is dead. It may only be dormant. Several things come to mind. You may have received what you believe to be a God-given dream. Because a period of time has passed and you have yet to see the dream become a full reality, you may be at that point of beginning to think that it’s dead. I am not saying I have all the answers, but remain open to the possibility that the dream is not dead, it’s only dormant. Your season of winter may soon give way to the new life of spring.
You may have had something you have been praying about for a long time. It could be connected to your relationships, career, children, your church family, or something else which is very important to you. Because you haven’t seen any visible changes and it’s been so long, you may be at the point of giving up hope for what you have been trusting God to do. I know God ways are not our ways, and it may be that he’s going to work in your life in a way which is unanticipated by you and your prayers. It may also be that what you are hoping for God to do is not dead, it’s only dormant, and God is about to answer your prayer.
It may be winter, but spring is on the way!
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