Clarity of Winter

And your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, "This is the way. Walk in it." When you turn to the right or when you turn to the left. - Isaiah 30:21

Clarity seems to come when we get quiet. When we clear away dying things that are no longer useful. When we stop asking others for direction and go straight to the God who “knows when I sit down and when I rise up; You discern my thoughts from afar.” (Psalm 139:2).

If there ever was a season that reminds me of clarity, it would be winter. Bare branches open up the landscape. What the lush green leaves hid away is now wide open. You can see straight through. There is space now. All the earths laughter reduced down to tiny seeds lying dormant. They wait for spring when in unison with the green leaves will appear once again in all their glorious beauty.

But for the season of winter potential flowers will wait. Bark will be the only necessary cover for the trees. There is space, an emptiness. We can see farther and hear better. “And your ears shall hear..”

The eyes and ears of your soul awaken as snow falls and ice freezes. The stillness of frozen in place. We could take it back inside with us. We could say we won’t make a hasty decision because we need some time being still and remembering that God is God.

There is time, plenty of time. God didn’t create us to be in a constant state of emergency. We can rest awhile or we can do that one thing God has put on our hearts to do. Sometimes we can’t rest when God needs us to obey first, before we can move on. Listen to Him. Go outside in the falling snow. You will know your soul, your mind, your body needs to get this quiet.

A pristine white world seems to promise something new. A starting over. A sheet of white unmarked by the feet of life. “This is the way. walk in it.” God seems to love making things new for us.

If He knows our thoughts, our sitting down and our standing up, our work, and our leisure, then we can trust Him to guide us in the right direction. He is mindful of the desires of our heart as well as our true needs, both He takes pleasure in providing for those who delight in Him. But sometimes our desires are not the same as God’s and He wants us to walk out into a newness that looks vast. He wants us walking toward a blessing instead of a well wrapped curse.

We need clarity. The clarity of winter. Let it take you outside into the cold and let it bring you back inside to the warmth. We need both. We are blessed to need comfort, God’s protection like the bark of a tree in winter that keeps it alive. God knows us. He draws us closer and whispers with His Holy Spirit all that brings clarity.