| Join us for the You Were Made for This Moment OBS!  Searching for Springtime by Max Lucado, from You Were Made for This Moment   Winter casts a cold shadow. The days are short. The nights are long. The sun seems shy, hidden behind the grayness. Warmth has packed her bags and migrated to the tropics. Beach weather would be nice.
But that's not going to happen. It's winter.
Spring will see blossoms. Summer sways leafy bushes in the wind. Autumn gives forth a harvest of plenty. But winter? Winter is still, deathly still. Fields are frosty. Trees extend skeletal limbs.
Wildlife is silent. Gone.
Winter brings danger. Blizzards. Ice storms. Caution is the theme. Come springtime you'll run barefoot through the meadow and plunge into the pond. But now? It's best to button up, zip up, stay in, and stay safe.
It's winter out there.
Is it winter where you are? Are you trapped in a perpetual gloom? Do you know the solstice of sunless days and barren trees?
I know a mom who does. A mom of three kids. Two in diapers and one with a disability. Her apartment is small. Her income is meager. And her husband is AWOL. Life in Camp Chaos was too much for him. It's too much for her as well. But what choice does she have? Somebody always needs to be fed, changed, held, or bathed. So she does whatever needs doing, and it appears she will be doing it forever. She wonders if this winter will ever pass.
So does my friend Ed. He and I have much in common. Our health is good. Our golf game is poor. We both like dogs. We both have marriages that predate the Carter administration. The difference? My wife just asked me what I want for dinner. His keeps asking him who he is. He placed her in a memory-care facility a year ago. They'd dreamed of touring the country in an RV. So far he's spent his retirement sleeping alone and making daily visits to a woman who stares out the window. Can you relate?
When did you first realize that life was not going to turn out the way you thought?
Your parents divorced. Your spouse cheated. Your health never recovered.
Your friend never returned. In that moment a Siberian cold settled over your life. Your world became an arctic circle of dark days, long nights, and bitter weather. Winter.
This book was born in winter. As I pen these words, every person on the planet is living in the frostnip of COVID-19. A pandemic has locked us down. The mom I told you about? Her income is meager because her restaurant job was discontinued.
Ed can still see his wife but only through a window. Church doors are closed. Students are stuck at home. Masks hide smiles. A microscopic virus has paralyzed us.
And an ancient sin threatens to undo us. Those of us who'd hoped racism was fading were convinced otherwise. An officer's knee on the neck of a Black man activated a subterranean anger. A volcano spewed into the streets of many cities.
The entire world seems wrapped in winter. We are all searching for springtime.
Winters are a part of life — some personal, some global — but all are powerful. Try as we might to bundle up and lean into the wind, the heartiest among us can fall. The wind is too strong.
Nights are too long, and the question is all too common: Will this winter ever pass? You wonder (don't you wonder?) if you will survive this.
If so, God has a six-letter word of encouragement for you: E-S-T-H-E-R. Watch the Preview Video with Max  Excerpted with permission from You Were Made for This Moment by Max Lucado, copyright Max Lucado.
Your Turn
It seems like an all-time low world-wide, doesn't it? How is it possible that things have gotten so bad everywhere we look? Where is God? Doesn't He see?.. He does… The book of Esther will show us! Come share your thoughts with us on our blog. We want to hear from you! Share this devotion with someone who needs it today. YOU'RE INVITED
Join the Online Bible Study for Max Lucado's You Were Made for This Moment  Get free access to all five teaching videos in the brand-new study and receive the welcome news offered by the book of Esther — no matter the challenges we face, relief will come!
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THE PERFECT COMPANION BIBLE DOES EXIST
Save 40% off Lucado Encouraging Word Bible, Comfort Print Holy Bible, New International Version  NIV hardcover and leathersoft editions available Save 40% off + get FREE shipping on orders $35 or more!* The Lucado Encouraging Word Bible is an updated and redesigned edition of the Life Lessons Bible that maintains the charm and conversational style that Max is known for. The Bible contains the full NIV text along with these bonus features:
Feel your heart being rejuvenated and encouraged as you read God's Word alongside the wit and wisdom of Max Lucado's stories and study notes from his decades of faithfully serving in ministry. Focused on communicating God's hope, comfort, and joy, journey with Max as you revel in the uplifting promise that God is with us and He will never leave us.
ALWAYS A WONDERFUL GIFT
Save 40% off Grace for the Moment Large Deluxe by Max Lucado
 Brown Flexcover Edition Regular: $24.99 Sale: $14.99 (40% off) + FREE shipping on orders $35 or more!* What readers are saying...
Perfect little gift to others or yourself! This devotional is made well and feels good in your hands. It welcomes you inside to read and looks good sitting out on the table. All in all a lovely little nugget and collection of pages to encourage your day. ~ Kathy B., verified buyer
The title is perfect because we do receive God's grace every moment! Max Lucado does such a wonderful job capturing God's message for each and every day. For some reason, each day is appropriate for my day! It is truly amazing grace! ~ Rebecca W., verified buyer
It is very good! So far, my wife and I read a devotion every night after supper in 2021. I like having the (old-school) ribbon book mark. Useful! ~James O., verified buyer
Learn more about all the study materials and Max's devotional
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- God has a six-letter word of encouragement for you.
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