Spiritual Seasons (#14)

I heard a sermon here on spiritual seasons. The pastor focused on winter, even though it is the middle of summer. Anyway, he was saying how we as Christians will go through spiritual winters. These are times when we will not feel like very good Christians. We won't be sharing the gospel. We might not even feel like the gospel has any personal meaning. Church won't have much appeal and you probably won't be reading your Bible during a spiritual winter. I agreed with him in the sense that many Christians do go through those times. I'm not sure if this concept is biblical or not. I haven't done any research on it. I was also unsure if God caused the "spiritual winters" or if it was through our own rebellion and sin that we felt these "seasons." I think the reality is many of us have gone through a difficult spiritual time. I should distinguish between a spiritual a "spiritual winter" and a period of apathy. A "spiritual winter" is a time when you faith is challenged. External and internal factors make you re-evaluate what you believe about God and who God is. Spiritual apathy usually occurs when you are not being challenged although some of the effects of spiritual apathy do look like the spiritual winter. My belief is that God causes or allows spiritual winters. It is a time for growth and eventually renewal (Spring!). Spiritual apathy is caused by sin. How can you tell the difference? According to our pastor, the one thing that exists during a spiritual winter is a desire to know God. You may cry out to Him in pain, hurt, or anger. You may question Him. You may doubt your understanding of Him, but you are still engaging Him, the great I am. During your spiritual winter God will reveal to you things about Himself. You will come out of it renewed. If you are spiritually apathetic, you won't be talking to God or engaging Him at all. That's the big difference.

I've been spiritually apathetic and I believe I went through a spiritual winter. During my spiritual winter I didn't want to go to church. I didn't take communion. I didn't want to pray with my wife. I just wanted to have God show me who He is and show me He was there for me. During my time of spiritual apathy, I still don't want to go to church, but the big difference is I pretended to be a good Christian. I still went to Bible studies and all that. That's the thing, it's easy to pretend. I did not learn anything about who God is and I didn't really care to have Him reveal anything to me. I think God will surprise us. Sometimes the surprise does not manifest itself in a positive way in our life plan. The realization that God wanted me in prison was extremely difficult to accept. But, the revelation of who God is during that time has changed my life. If you feel that you are in a spiritual winter, continue to talk with the great I Am. It will end and you will be renewed. If you are stuck in apathy, well, the trickiest part is recognizing that you are even there.

Jeff