My daughter, Breanne, loves horses. Back in the summer she wanted to purchase another horse, but a friend of hers told her to wait until winter. He said, ‘if you wait for winter, when no one wants to feed them, you will get the best horses for the least cost.’
She waited.
Sure enough, the temperatures got down in the single digits here and it wasn’t long before people began to email her and let her know of people who were wanting to get rid of their horses.
The other night, she went to feed, it was about 5 degrees outside and pitch black. I texted her and said, ‘you picked a great time to have to feed additional horses, didn’t you?’ She replied, ‘it is as he told me, those willing to do the work in the winter, during the hard seasons, will get the best horses for free.’
When I read that response, my spirit leapt within me. I saw the truth in this statement not only in her situation but in our spiritual walk as well.
Matthew 13 talks about the parable of the sower. It is the sower who sows the word of God and refuses to back off of it that will reap the harvest.
The sower who gives up will receive nothing from the Lord.
It is about the person who plants the word of God in their heart, in their life, in their situation and then stands firm on that word, regardless of how it looks. No matter how dark or how hard it gets, they stand firm on that word, THEY will receive their promise fulfilled.
Throughout the Bible we see those who stood firm on what God told them, they are the ones who walked in the fullness of their destinies in God.
The life of Joseph is a good example. He has a promise from God, given to him in a dream, not once, but twice. It was established. However, just days later he found himself sold into slavery and later on, in prison for years. It couldn’t get much darker than that – yet, he held on to what God had said and even kept his heart right toward those who persecuted him. He ended up being a blessing to those who sold him into slavery. AND God did exactly what He said He would do in Josephs life.
It was the same with Moses, Abraham, David…on and on we see those who had a word from God and walked through a very dark, seemingly hopeless season, yet God did exactly what He said He would do in their life, every single time.
Proverbs 24:10 says, ‘if you fail under pressure, your strength is too small. (NLT)
What does that mean? It means if you quit when things get hard, your spirit is not strong. You are weak in spirit.
I don’t know about you, but I do not want to be weak in spirit, I choose to be strong in spirit. To do that, I must put the word of God in my heart DAILY. That is not religious or legalistic, that is the word of God.
Joshua 1:8 says; This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it; for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have success.
The New Living Bible says,’this is the ONLY way you will have success.’
Proverbs 18:14 says; The spirit of a man sustains him in sickness, but as for a broken spirit, who can bear it?
A strong spirit will sustain you in sickness, in lack and in any other dark times. We are created and equipped to be overcomers. God does not intend for us to be overcome but to overcome every obstacle and He gave us what we need to overcome – it is the word of God!
It is the ones who will stand strong in dark and hard times that overcome. Will you be one of those?
We all have winter seasons in our life, it’s simply a fact. How we walk through those seasons will determine our coming harvests.
Hebrews 3:14 says; For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast unto the end;
Anyone can have joy, peace and confidence in God and His word when everything is going well. The real test comes when things are dark and challenging. Will you hold the beginning of your confidence steadfast to the end? That’s the true test. Allow that truth to bring you great encouragement and hold firm until you see the promise fulfilled. If you stand firm, it will happen and you will see it.
Those who stand firm and do what the word of God says in the winter seasons of their life will see the goodness of God overwhelm them…be one of those.
Prayer for today: Father, help us to stand firm in the winter seasons of our life. Help us to hold fast to Your word and Your promises and refuse to back off. Help us to be doers of the word and not hearers only. This we ask in Jesus name. Amen.
