“Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze." Isaiah 43
Dear Brides, I recently discovered that there are nature trails about 3km away from where I live. I always knew there is a nature reserve, but I was not aware of the trails, my children's tennis coach told me about the trails. So, on Thursday, my Beloved led me to take the children and walk one of the trails. There are different trails, depending how far you want to walk. So, we took one of the shorter ones just to try it out. Currently it's winter here is South Africa, so the grass is brown and dead, but the indigenous tree's leaves are still green. It was a beautiful day with the sun shining and the temperature was about 20 degrees Celsius. We rarely get snow where I stay and during the winter the sun shines almost every day, but the days are shorter with cold nights.
As we were walking, my Beloved showed me something that I want to share with you. Although the grass is currently brown and dead, there are still beauty in what we saw. He reminded me when we go through difficult times, or winter seasons, we tend to look at all the bad, all the "ugly" that surrounds us. But if we keep our eyes on our Beloved, and focus on Him, not looking at what we can see in the flesh, He will show us the beauty even in our winter seasons. And the more we focus on Him, the more we will see the beauty (purpose) and experience peace and joy in the midst's of what we are going through.
During winter all the dead grass in the fields get burned in a controlled way, this is to prepare the fields for summer, this do not contribute to the beauty of what you can see. So, another thing He reminded me of is the seasons we go through in life, during our winter seasons we go through refining, burning off all the bad, unnecessary stuff in our lives, all in preparation for our summer seasons, preparing us and spiritually maturing us for what He has planned for us when our summer season arrives.
We must always remember that during those difficult times, during our winter season's, we must take our eyes off of our situations and keep our eyes fixed on our Beloved, we must allow Him to show us the beauty in whatever we are going through, we must allow Him to refine us and prepare us for the amazing plans He have for us, because just like in nature, winter ends, spring arrives and then summer, BUT always look for the beauty He wants to show you in each season.
I want to share this lessons with you that He just laid on my heart:
Chapter 5 “It’s SO Worth the Wait”
Chapter 9 “God’s Waiting Room”
So true Adina, l have definitely been thru many of these wintry seasons and each time it has built up my faith 🙏
I have seen that those times that have been really tough that l did not need to tell anyone about it, l did not need to complain. All l needed to do was take it to my Beloved Husband each day and to meditate on and find His promises to me in that situation. Then as each day would go by renew my mind with those promises. And in a matter of weeks or months He answers, He makes a way and when l look back over that dead wintry season l am amazed 😄 He always goes above and beyond we just need to hang on and press in and trust and believe ♥️ even when everything looks dry and dead.
Yes Atarah, at the beginning of my journey it was difficult, but thankfully we grow and mature spiritually during each trail. I am not perfect yet, but my Beloved always reminds me to keep my eyes on Him and to meditate only on His word and the verses He gave me over the years.
Thank you for sharing what our Darling Lord showed you precious Adina.
I love the promise you shared, I remember my Darling Husband gave it to me years ago when my earthly husband had just left me and I have to be honest, while I was in that winter season of my life, I failed to see the beauty around me for long and missed out so much, but now I can testify that the winter will pass, I just had to keep my focus on our Darling Lord.
That is such a comforting verse Janine, and we have His word that He is with us through every trail, and He is also with us during the summer seasons.
This is so beautiful!! Every season has its beauty when we open our eyes to see it! There is so much that we learned in the cold winters of our lives and those are especially good to pray, worship, and devour His amazing promises for our lives! Waiting is the key to getting closer to Him and moving from glory to glory!
I agree my dear Isabella, we must just focus on our Beloved and all His amazing promises. But the trails help us to mature and grow in our faith, it also draw us closer to our Beloved.
I also agree that each season has its own beauty, sometimes we can not see it because “the grass is always greener on the other side.”💚 May His love and affection let us closer to Him even more so we can see with His eyes, from the place He is and want us to be!
“The desert and the parched land will be glad;
the wilderness will rejoice and blossom.
Like the crocus, 2 it will burst into bloom;
it will rejoice greatly and shout for joy.” I3523
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Isaiah+35%3A1-2&version=NIV
Thank you for the promise dear Paula. It is so easy to look at our situations instead of focussing on our Beloved. During our winter seasons we can rest in Him and know that He is in control and nothing caught Him by surprise, it is all part of a beautiful plan He is working on.
Debemos cada día pedir eso al señor que en nuestro corazón solo tenga agradecimiento y alabanzas en nuestros labios, poniendo solo la vista en nuestro amado.
como dice su palabra buscad primeramente el reino de Dios y su justicia y todas las demás cosas vendrán por añadidura.
mateo 6:33
cuando nos concentramos en los favores y gracia del señor en nuestras vidas y le alabamos, nos elevamos y todo lo demás lo vemos pequeño, sabiendo que nuestra batalla la pelea el señor.
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We must ask the Lord every day to have only gratitude in our hearts and praise on our lips, setting our sights only on our beloved.
As His Word says, seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all other things will come to you.
Matthew 6:33
When we concentrate on the Lord’s favors and grace in our lives and praise Him, we elevate ourselves and see everything else as small, knowing that the Lord is fighting our battle.
I agree dear Nelly, we must praise Him always, because even during our trails, we can count our blessings one by one.
Dear Adina, your account reminded me of this passage: “But blessed is the man whose trust is in the Lord, whose trust is in him. He will be like a tree planted by the waters and extending its roots by the stream. She will not fear when the heat arrives, because her leaves are always green; it will not be anxious in the year of drought nor fail to bear fruit.” Jeremiah 17:7-8
It is so wonderful to see that if we are firm in what God says, nothing will shake us. Times can be of transition, chaos, calm or we can experience a radical change in our lives, but, if we are constantly filled with God, our leaves turn green and we produce fruit. That’s why it’s important to live by investing daily in communion with our Beloved, so that we will be at peace to live through any season.
“I know how to live with almost nothing or with everything I need. I have learned the secret of living in any situation, whether with a full or empty stomach, with a lot or with little” F412
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=philipians+4%3A12&version=NIV
The analogy that our Beloved gave you to lead us to admire the beauty of winter is beautiful. Although the low temperature can often cause physical pain and discomfort like those you describe, it has beauty and purpose. Seeing the good in every situation leads us to contentment… our Beloved is immensely wise and uses all these stages for our good.
Thank you dear Adina, for this beautiful comparison. When I am in that winter season, everything looks bad, but I turn around and see what my Beloved allows me. Being able to be here, to share companionship, has been given to me by the Lord in this desert. And that’s where I should look, not what surrounds me. Each season has its beautiful things and others that we don’t like so much, but no matter what we are going through we are certain that He always accompanies us.