The Winter Tree

"Truly my soul finds rest in God; my salvation comes from him. Truly he is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will never be shaken." (Psalm 62:1-2) Imagine a massive oak tree. In the Spring, it is covered in green leaves.

It looks beautiful. It feels alive. Everyone takes pictures of it. But in the Winter, the leaves fall off. The branches are bare. The tree looks completely dead. If you didn't know how nature works, you would want to chop it down.

But the tree isn't dead. In the Winter, because the tree is no longer spending energy growing leaves for everyone to see, it sends all its energy underground to grow deeper Roots . In mature discipleship, you will enter a "Winter" season.

Theologians call this The Dark Night of the Soul . God removes the "leaves"—the warm feelings, the goosebumps during worship, the emotional highs. You pray, and you feel absolutely nothing. Immature believers panic in Winter.

They think God left them, so they run from church to church trying to find a "Spring" feeling. Mature believers understand the Winter. God removes the feelings to test your roots. Will you obey Him when you feel nothing?

Will you serve Him when there is no emotional reward? Winter is when your faith stops being a feeling and becomes a permanent decision.

This is the shift from Consolation to Desolation . God often gives new believers spiritual "candy" (consolations) to draw them in. They feel His presence strongly. But if He never stops giving you candy, you will love the feeling of God more than God Himself.

So, He withdraws the feeling (desolation). He tests your motives. Job passed this test when he lost everything, felt abandoned, and still said: "Though he slay me, yet will I hope in him" (Job 13:15).

Reflect on this: Are you in a spiritual winter? Do you feel dry and uninspired? Do not fake the leaves. Do not try to manufacture an emotion. Just dig your roots into the Word. Keep doing the right thing in the dark.

👣 Take a Step Action: The Blind Obedience. Do one act of devotion today (read a chapter, pray, or give) without expecting to "feel" anything. Say: "Lord, I don't need a feeling to know You are real.

I choose to obey You in the dark."