Winter can feel lifeless and stagnant. The trees are bare, the ground is frozen, and it seems like everything is locked in the cold teeth of death. Yet beneath the earth’s surface, life abounds. Rabbits are burrowing, worms are tunneling, and tree roots are plunging ever deeper. In fact, most of a tree’s root growth takes place during the winter months. Those same trees that look so lifeless above ground are growing like crazy beneath the surface.
Identity work is root work. It takes place in the hidden depths of our hearts and souls. Sometimes it takes a long, freezing winter to force us to put down our deep identity roots into who we are as beloved children of our good Father. When that work is happening, it is often unobservable at first. Roots grow in the dark. Identity is formed in quiet. The deepening of the soul often goes unnoticed. And yet, it always comes to light. The winter eventually thaws, new growth appears, and at long last fruitfulness abounds. The deep work of winter spouts forth in spring, ripens in summer, and comes to harvest in autumn.
So keep putting down roots in these cold winter months. Do the identity work Jesus is calling you to. Spring is on its way!
You are loved, more than you know!
