I have lived in the Chicagoland all my life. I’ve NEVER lived anywhere else. I’ve often desired to live in a warmer climate (especially during the winter). I’m not a fan of the winter season because sunny days are replaced with gray skies; it’s cold, snowy and messy. Don’t get me started on the people who can’t drive in the snow. As you can see, my reasons for hating winter go on and on.
However, the main reason why I don’t like the winter season is that everything appears to be dead. The trees don’t have leaves, the animals are not wandering around because they’re hibernating, and worse of all we have to dress like an Eskimo in order to get around. You get the picture.
As much as I hate winter, the one upside is that it provides plenty of time for reflection. Since winter is here in Chicago, I started thinking about the different seasons we go through in life. For example, Springtime is when you make the effort to plant some seeds in your life.
Summer is time to thrive. Summer is when you’re able to benefit from the hard work you did in the Spring. Although Autumn is when things start to wind down, I’m sure you can relate, it still a good season to be in. Spring, Summer, and Autumn don’t leave you completely down and out. There’s still a glimmer of life to be found within each of those seasons. If life only consisted of three seasons, we’d be good to go.
Unfortunately, we have four seasons. Winter, which is the fourth season, is typically one of those seasons that no one likes to talk about. Winter makes us feel a variety of negative feelings.
Needless to say, I’ve had my share of winter seasons both physical and spiritual. If you’re going through a spiritual Winter season right now, here are my tips on how you can survive this season in your life. Get dressed in your armor, which is the word of God.
If you want to survive Winter we must get properly dressed. Just like you would never physically walk around naked during this time of year, you should be just as committed to being fully dressed in your spiritual armor during this time in your life.
We forget that every time we walk out our homes, we’re stepping into a battlefield. Now I’m not trying to be depressing but it’s true. Some days we don’t have to fight as hard as other days, but every day is a battle. Despite this fact, so many of us, myself included, have gotten so comfortable in this world that oftentimes we fail to get properly dressed in our armor.
We must get dressed in God’s Armor in order to survive our spiritual Winter (Eph 6: 10-17). Here is a quick run down what you should wear in order to weather the winter season in your life:
- The belt of truth
- This belt is going to give you the foundation you need to connect everything in your life together. It connects our worlds (i.e. our spiritual world to our physical world). Getting God’s perspective on a matter is how we put on our belt of truth. We are to accept God’s truth over our feelingS (what we think), over what the crowd says about the matter, etc. If we have the belt of truth on, we will override everything and everybody that does not agree with the word of God.
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- Breastplate of righteousness
- It is imperative that we properly put on our breastplate. Our entire life depends on what information we accept into our heart. The breastplate of righteousness protects our heart from the negative elements and people that surround us. In order to have peace in a world filled with sin, we must put on our breastplate of righteousness. This simply means that we are to start with what is true and righteous (God’s word). In other words, align our thinking with these two attributes of Christ and we are ready for any attack Satan sends our way.
- Breastplate of righteousness
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- The gospel of peace;
- The gospel is the name of the shoes we are to wear. Our shoes keep Satan from using our circumstance and problem to knock us down. Our shoes which is named “the gospel of peace” is just that. If we are grounded in God’s Word, this means that we are wearing our shoes and they will give us peace that surpasses all understanding. in the midst of our situation.
- The gospel of peace;
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- Shield of faith
- Our shield is our protection from Satan’s fiery darts aka circumstances and problems that Satan throws our way. Our shield of faith give us the confidence to let us know that we can accomplish our goals and win whatever battle Satan sends our way.
- Shield of faith
- Helmet of Salvation
- Our Helmet protects our mind from negative thoughts. Whether they are whispered words from Satan or information from society. Having our helmet of Salvation on is the only way we can think and protect our thought life from sinful attacks.
Just like being underdressed physically can cause you to freeze to death. Being underdressed spiritually also causes death. In order to endure our spiritual winter season, we must get and stay fully dressed.
Through God’s grace, we have the power to survive it so we can live to see another Summer.
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