January—it’s the dead of winter. Nothing’s in bloom; it’s cold, and the joy-filled holidays have come and gone. For a lot of us, this time of year can be quite depressing. The week after releasing my book, for a moment, I felt the emptiness of winter. It wasn’t a bad feeling; it just was. It’s like when a mother gives birth; the baby has come, and the anticipatory season has gone. Hopefully, we are able to see this time for what it is: a necessary part of life. We must release what is inside of us in order to make room for what God wants to do next. We must endure the winter in order to get to spring.

As I sat in the emptiness, I came to the realization that after we have poured out, after we have given birth to something, God will soon begin to move and inspire us; He will always pour back into us. It’s in this state of emptiness we must learn to listen.

“What will I write about today?” I asked God the other morning. He didn’t answer right away. Because I was listening, at the end of the day, I heard Him loud and clear. I looked up and noticed the bare naked trees in stark contrast against a golden-painted sky. It was, well, beautiful. The dormancy of the trees didn’t take away from the picturesque-ness of it all but only added to it’s beauty. The golden sky seemed to cast a warmth upon the trees as if to say “This too shall pass.”

I knew those same trees I was looking at would one day be filled with leaves and once again display a full range of the most vibrant greens. God created seasons for a reason, and this one won’t last forever.