If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant: if we did not sometimes taste of adversity, prosperity would not be so welcome.
Winter
Katherine Walden
God never abandoned the Israelites when they were in the wilderness; He was a cloud by day, a pillar of fire at night, and dwelt amongst them in His tabernacle. The wilderness experience is never meant to separate you from His presence. You might be going through a dry season, you might FEEL like God is far away, you might think He is silent but the truth is – He is NEVER distant from those who call upon His name.
Max Lucado
God is the God of great turnarounds. Think about it: No struggle means no strength. No mountain means no mountain peak. No setback means no comeback, and a comeback can be yours for the taking. Today’s confusion and crisis will be tomorrow’s conquest. Take God at his word. I dare you to do so. I double dog dare you. Reframe the way you see this season of winter. Recast the struggle for what it is, an opportunity for God to do again what he does best: flip a story on its head and resurrect life out of death.
Ole Kristian O. Hallesby
As white snowflakes fall quietly and thickly on a winter day, answers to prayer will settle down upon you at every step you take, even to your dying day. The story of your life will be the story of prayer and answers to prayer.
Edward Hays
Since it [Advent] comes at winter time, fire is a fitting sign to help us celebrate Advent… If Christ is to come more fully into our lives this Christmas, if God is to become really incarnate for us, then fire will have to be present in our prayer. Our worship and devotion will have to stoke the kind of fire in our souls that can truly change our hearts. Ours is a great responsibility not to waste this Advent time.
Gloria Gather
Even in the winter, even in the midst of the storm, the sun is still there. Somewhere, up above the clouds, it still shines and warms and pulls at the life buried deep inside the brown branches and frozen earth. The sun is there! Spring will come! The clouds cannot stay forever.