I felt so unproductive, I felt so wasteful, so unmoved, I felt like I had been stationary when I should have been continuously steaming on like that steam train.

And I wasn’t happy about that. I’m not happy to look back and say, where is it? Where is my labour?

Where has it been? It has not been moved. You know, I really just felt unproductive. And God reminded me about the winter. He reminded me about the seasons. But the winter in particular.

In particular, so many people say they look forward to winter to snuggle in. They look forward to closing the doors, lighting the fire, and being snuggled underneath a blanket with a hot drink in hand.

And they look forward to that. It’s funny though how a season is described as coming inside.

A season is all about what’s on the inside. It’s about the rest. And do you know what? It’s okay to have rest. It’s actually okay to come into a period of rest, to come into a season of rest. A time period of less.

A season where really… you feel like you just spend time inside. Where you spend time just snuggled up. Where you spend time just basking in the glow of the fire and enjoying your beverage.

And in terms of spirituality, how does that really look like?

What does it really look like for us, for the Christian? How does winter look?

Friend, maybe winter is just all about you coming back to your place, back to your home, back to where your feet rest, back to where you lay your head, back to the foundation of your life.

Winter is you coming home for a season and saying it’s all about what’s in here.

It’s all about the fire of God that breathes upon me. It’s all about the glory of God that I can see with my eyes. It’s all about the rest. The hand which I sit upon and the cup from who I drink. It’s about what I’m holding, it’s about being covered with a blanket of grace, it’s snuggle season, and I think about the bear 🐻 that hibernates, it hibernates because the rest is actually a preparation for the next part.

A rest is a preparation for the next season, because when the bear 🐻 emerges from the winter, he is fully ready to be released. When he arises from his slumber, he is rejuvenated, re-energized, he is ready. He is ready to come outside again.

So I just want to encourage you. That if you are like me and you’re looking and you’re saying, God, I’ve been so unproductive. God, I haven’t done X, Y and Z. I haven’t done all of these things. Maybe this is just a season of rest for you.

A season of really dwelling on the house that you’re in and who you are snuggling up with. This isn’t the season for the planting, the pruning, the harvesting.

It’s not the season of seeds like spring. It’s not the season of harvest like summer. It’s not the season of pruning like autumn. It’s a season of rest.

And it’s okay just to do that.

Let’s just put your godly feet up. And say it’s okay for me just to sit back and relax in the hand that holds me. It’s okay for me just to sit back and enjoy his warm embrace. To enjoy the cup that I’m drinking out of. To enjoy him at this sip. In every sip. It’s okay just to have a season of staying inside.

Because this won’t be every season.

This is a season.

And your rest is a godly rest.

If you’re resting in him it’s godly. If you spend time just snuggled up with God. You’re going to get ready for the next one. You’re going to get ready for the next season.

You’re going to get ready for the season of seeding. The season of seeds and planting. But right now it’s just rest.

Genesis 8:22

²² “As long as the earth endures,
seedtime and harvest,
cold and heat,
summer and winter,
day and night
will never cease.”

Psalm 74:17

“It was you who set all the boundaries of the earth; you made both summer and winter.”