Being grateful to God and remembering all His blessings always draws me closer to Him. It’s been a key to bring my joy back, but it’s also been a tool in hard seasons to drive my roots down deeper in Him. Every time I could look at a situation of pain and hurt, but find a way to be grateful and trust Him instead, our connection became even stronger. My roots grew a bit more.
The winter season
More than a decade ago I had to uproot my life after 4.5 years in America and go back home to Denmark. Apart from the hardships of rebuilding a new life and missing the old one, one of the hardest things for me in that season was feeling useless.
I came from a life of being actively involved in ministry and saw how I was making a difference for His Kingdom. Now, I had no idea where to go, what to do or how to start.
I remember sitting in a car by myself, in the middle of winter, somewhere in the woods. I was looking up at the trees, when Jesus gave me a revelation I have kept with me ever since. He showed me the bare trees. No leaves, no fruit. Only the bare tree trunk and branches. Then He said, ‘No one blames the trees for not bearing fruit in winter. Everyone knows it’s just a season and the fruit will come back.’
That was exactly what I needed to hear. I think I was blaming myself for not bearing any fruit, and it helped me understand that winter seasons are okay. He doesn’t blame us for not bearing fruit. He helps us go deeper with Him.
God is always working
Needless to say, many of us have experienced this past year as a winter season as well. In one way or another. But even in seasons where we seem to bear no fruit, God is still working.
I believe He has used this past year in a very special way. Many people have been forced to stop and question what life is all about. For us as believers, we’ve had a choice as to whether we would listen to the media with panic and fear, or we would run to Jesus. The steadfast rock that is never shaken. The one who isn’t taken aback by anything that happens and who always, always, always has a plan.
Running to Him in a season of hardship and barrenness is what drives our roots deeper in Him. And being grateful is a key to that.
“Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked,
or stand in the way that sinners take,
or sit in the company of mockers,
but whose delight is in the law of the Lord,
and who meditates on His law day and night.
That person is like a tree planted by streams of water,
which yields its fruit in season,
and whose leaf does not wither –
whatever they do prospers.”
Ps. 1:1-3
The deeper and wider the roots go, the bigger the tree it can support. During crazy storms trees can be knocked over and the roots pulled up. But the trees with the deepest roots can stand in the storms.
God is always preparing us for the next, and in this past year I believe He has done much more underground and in the soil of our hearts, than we know or see at this time.
Nothing is lost
Jesus expanded on the ‘tree revelation’ for me this winter, when I was walking and looking at a row of trees. Birds were still sitting on the branches, and it struck me how much space the crown of some of the trees actually took up, even without leaves or fruit on it. He said, ‘The places you’ve already conquered, and the width you’ve already gained, isn’t lost just because it’s winter.’
When spring comes, the tree doesn’t have to start from scratch as a small seedling. Every branch it has developed over time is still there, and is ready for new fruit and to grow even further. It is the same for us. Nothing He has done in and through us is lost, just because we are in a winter season.
Thank you, Jesus, for drawing us closer in winter seasons, so our roots in You can go deeper, and when spring comes we can carry even more.
