Song 2:10 “My beloved responded and said to me,
‘Arise, my darling, my beautiful one,
And come away with me.
Song 2:11 ‘For behold, the winter is past,
The rain is over and gone.
Song 2:12 ‘The flowers have already appeared in the land;
The time has arrived for pruning the vines,
And the voice of the turtledove has been heard in our land.
Some of you have been in a “Winter Time” season in your life and have just been trying to hang on. Winter can be a cold, dark, and barren time, where everything seems stark and lifeless. Even though “winter seasons” look and feel that way, winter is actually a time of deep preparation for life and fruitfulness. Maybe you find yourself in a season like that and you can sense the voice of the Turtle Dove urging you onward. Many times it is in the context of a Winter Time that Jesus comes to us and says “The winter time is over, and I’ve used it to cause your roots to go deep into the depths of my love. My love has sustained you, and not only did you survive, you are now positioned to rise up and come away with me to a new glorious and fruitful time in your life.” Could it be that this Winter Time you’ve experienced wasn’t primarily about this or that, but was actually a time of preparation, getting your soul pliable enough to go forth into that place you’ve asked, and longed for.