If Winter Feels Endless...

I was looking out my window on a recent frosty morning when I noticed little green tulip sprouts pushing their way up through the hardened soil.

Life is amazing.

I did absolutely nothing to cultivate the growth of those flowers. And yet, year after year, they somehow know when it’s time to rise again.

No matter how long or severe the winter, spring always returns.

Seeing those fragile shoots breaking through frozen ground reminded me of something I recently read in Psalms 65:8–12:

“Those who live at the ends of the earth stand in awe of your wonders. From where the sun rises to where it sets, you inspire shouts of joy. You care for the land and water it; you enrich it abundantly… You drench its furrows and level its ridges; you soften it with showers and bless its crops. You crown the year with your bounty, and your carts overflow with abundance. The grasslands of the wilderness overflow; the hills are clothed with gladness.”

The same God who faithfully brings flowers out of the ground after months of gray skies and bitter cold is the God who loves to bring color and joy back into hard places.

He turns wilderness into lush pasture.

The earth itself declares the joy of God — how He does what seems impossible, bringing life back to frozen ground.

So let me ask you:

What hard places have you been wrestling with?

What feels frozen?

What seems doomed to remain unchanged?

Maybe you’re stuck in a financial pit. Maybe your marriage feels strained and fragile.Maybe you’re carrying the ache of wayward children or walking through unresolved health struggles.

Winter can feel endless.

But hear this: the Lord has not forgotten you.

In John 10:10, Jesus says, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it abundantly.”

I don’t believe He was speaking only of some distant future in heaven. I believe Jesus came so that we could begin experiencing His abundant life right here, right now — even in the middle of winter.

The tulips don’t strain or strive to force themselves upward. They simply respond to the season when it changes.

Lean into Jesus in your winter. Trust the One who softens the soil. Watch Him bring the flowers.

*Image by AI