Hunkering Down Spiritually

The new school year has begun. It’s chilly and rainy. Our daughters’ tennis and cross country meets are postponed due to the weather. I can’t avoid it any longer: Autumn has arrived. Even the leaves are turning a traitorous red.

It’s time to start hunkering down. Time to wash the storm windows and harvest the tomatoes. I’ll remove my beach-themed decorations from shelves and replace them with owls and pumpkins. If I find the time or energy, I’ll plant some bulbs.

I’ll pull out the snow pants and see if they fit Lucy, who, thankfully, is still young enough to play in the snow. We’ll put her shorts in the back of the drawer. Try on her jeans, see if her winter dresses still fit for church. Determine how much her growth will affect the budget this year.

We know what’s coming…and so we plan accordingly. No one wants to be caught unaware, come the first snow.

All of this preparation, all of this organization, makes me think. We deliberately plan for the hardships of winter…but do we plan for the hardships of a spiritual winter? Do we budget for spiritual warfare? Do we fit ourselves for battle?

I don’t mean to be fatalistic. Just practical. Because all of us will face spiritually-difficult times in our lives. Our faith will be challenged. People will scoff at our values.

How do we fight against that? How do we prepare? I believe in several ways.

First, we take Peter’s advice in 1 Peter 3:15 (NIV) and, in [our] hearts revere Christ as Lord. As Christians we are called to be set apart. To be sanctified. It’s important that we give God the holy honor that He deserves in our hearts.

The verse continues: Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect. We need to be prepared to talk to people about Jesus. We need to be ready to tell them the reasons that we follow Him, if they ask. The Holy Spirit will give us the words to speak about our faith.

Additionally, we must take up the armor of God (Ephesians 6:10–18, NIV). We embrace truth and peace and faith. We put on the helmet of salvation. We read the Word of God. We pray. We stay alert.

Equally important, we memorize Scripture. Why? That [we] might not sin against [God] (Psalm 119:11, NIV).

As Christians, we think we’re prepared for whatever comes our way. We go to church. We enjoy fellowship with other church members. We ascribe to all the spiritual values we need. But all too often, when we’re asked to justify our faith, we stumble over our words and don’t know how to talk to people about the God we love.

When we take the time to know the Word of God, when we give ourselves a firm foundation of faith and put on the spiritual armor that we need, when we set apart Christ as Lord in our hearts…then we will be prepared for those periods of spiritual winter that challenge our faith. Then we can give reasons for the hope we hold when questioned about our beliefs.

Because the hope we have is amazing and will withstand anything. Even the scoffers. Even the flaming arrows of the evil one (Ephesians 6:16, NIV). Even the approaching cold weather.

As you hunker down for winter, as you put away the summer toys and pull the snow tires out of storage, I encourage you to think about “spiritually hunkering down” as well. Then you will feel prepared for whatever spiritual weather comes your way.

Gretchen O’Donnell is an island girl living on the prairies of southwestern Minnesota with her husband, two youngest children, and two argumentative cats. She likes winter as long as she doesn’t have to go outside. Gretchen does freelance writing for her local newspaper and has a weekly faith-based newspaper column, The Disheveled Theologian. She loves telling stories of her ordinary life to help people see the theological truths in their everyday lives.