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Spiritual Winter: When You Don’t Feel God

by | Thu, Jul 12 2018

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In this message, Pastor Jeff Vines shares a straight talking message from the Word and shares with us what to do when we experience spiritual winter. How can we seek for God, search for answers and ultimately trust Him and remain faithful in order to know God in a deeper and more real way, just like Job did.

Do you ever call out to God asking Him to show up in your life? But at the time He feels distant or even silent. Believers will experience different seasons in their life. What is spiritual winter? It is when you don’t feel God, and as hard as this season is, it is in winter, when we can learn where our true allegiance lies, and whether or not we value our relationship with Jesus most highly.

The story of Job can bring encouragement to all of us. Owning and/or running a business comes with many challenges. When you are faced with trouble, how do you react?

Job had it all in life and in a matter of no time, his seven sons and three daughters die, his wealth vanishes and he becomes repulsive as his health is taken from him. Job goes through several reactions, from worshiping and praising God in the midst of the pain and loss (Job 1:20-21), to experiencing his own faith and reliance in God wavering to the point that he starts to complain to God. Yet Job clings to God.

GK Chester once said:

In pain and in suffering the Christian’s temptation is to move away from God, in heavens way, to what?

Does this touch a chord in your own life, I know it does in me. It’s so easy to praise God in the times when our businesses are growing and all is well in all aspects of our life … but what happens when the ‘winter’ comes and things come crashing around you. It is so easy for you and I to focus on the immediate, the earthly impact, but we forget that God’s purpose is eternal.

Submission to God’s will in our life is not easy, but God provides us with insights on how to do this via the story of Job.

Pastor Jeff Vines

About Pastor Jeff Vines

Jeff Vines is an author, Pastor, Apologist and Bible teacher. He has spent twenty years on the mission field in Zimbabwe and New Zealand planting churches and training leaders. From 1998-2005 he was the featured speaker on the American weekly television broadcast, “Questions of Life” and frequently debated agnostic and atheist alike on US radio. For two years Jeff served as the Teaching Pastor at Savannah Christian Church in Savannah, GA. In 2008, Jeff became the Lead Pastor of Christ’s Church of the Valley in San Dimas California.

Jeff is the author of “Dinner with SKEPTICS: Defending God in a World that Makes No Sense”, and “Unbroken: 8 Enduring Promises God Will Keep”. Jeff and his wife, Robin, celebrated their 30th anniversary in July of 2016 and have two children, Delaney and Sian.

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