January 11, 2023
by Reverend Dan on January 20, 2023It’s “that” time of year. It gets dark earlier in the evening and therefore the nights seem infinitely longer. (And contrary to popular expression, the days are not shorter – there are still 24 hours in a day. There’s just less time the sun is out. Something to do with science. We talked about it one day in school, but evidently, the teacher didn’t have my full attention.) It’s colder outside so we spend more time inside. Some folks suffer from what is called “seasonal depression”, where the factors of winter pile up to bring you down. Add the end of football season to the mix (that’s the proverbial straw that breaks the camel’s back every year for me), and this thing we call winter is not garnering a lot of people’s affection.
But. Winter always gives way to spring. New life. More light. Warmer days spent outside in the glory of God’s creation, which He creates anew and brings to life once again. There’s a correlation between the seasons of the year, and the seasons of our lives. Solomon says this is the way it was created to be, “a time for every season.” (Read Ecclesiastes 3 in both the KJV and the NIV. And for another interpretation, listen to Pete Seeger’s classic song, “Turn, Turn, Turn”, which made the Byrds famous in 1965.) All this reminds me that seasons will come, and they’ll go, for nothing stays the same except God. In the dark, depressive days of winter, we need to remember that the God of spring and summer and fall is also the God of winter. And in His plan, whatever season we are going through in our lives will give way to a new season. That gives us hope in the midst of despair. Courage in the midst of fear. Laughter in the midst of tears. Faith in the midst of doubt. And a promise of renewed life in the midst of grief and even death.
There are dark days in every season; the seasons around us and the seasons inside us. But we know that God has promised to be faithful in all seasons. Even if you can’t see the light for the darkness, it is there, waiting to break through. Have you ever considered that it’s on the darkest nights that you can best see the stars? Just another reminder that God is still on His throne. Don’t let the circumstances around you determine what’s going on inside you. When you’re scraping the ice off your windshield with a credit card because you’ve lost your scraper; and there are no leaves on the trees but somehow you still have to rake every week; and you’re so layered up in clothes you look like the Michelin man, but the wind is still cutting through you; remember it is simply a season, and it will change. God's good like that.
backBut. Winter always gives way to spring. New life. More light. Warmer days spent outside in the glory of God’s creation, which He creates anew and brings to life once again. There’s a correlation between the seasons of the year, and the seasons of our lives. Solomon says this is the way it was created to be, “a time for every season.” (Read Ecclesiastes 3 in both the KJV and the NIV. And for another interpretation, listen to Pete Seeger’s classic song, “Turn, Turn, Turn”, which made the Byrds famous in 1965.) All this reminds me that seasons will come, and they’ll go, for nothing stays the same except God. In the dark, depressive days of winter, we need to remember that the God of spring and summer and fall is also the God of winter. And in His plan, whatever season we are going through in our lives will give way to a new season. That gives us hope in the midst of despair. Courage in the midst of fear. Laughter in the midst of tears. Faith in the midst of doubt. And a promise of renewed life in the midst of grief and even death.
There are dark days in every season; the seasons around us and the seasons inside us. But we know that God has promised to be faithful in all seasons. Even if you can’t see the light for the darkness, it is there, waiting to break through. Have you ever considered that it’s on the darkest nights that you can best see the stars? Just another reminder that God is still on His throne. Don’t let the circumstances around you determine what’s going on inside you. When you’re scraping the ice off your windshield with a credit card because you’ve lost your scraper; and there are no leaves on the trees but somehow you still have to rake every week; and you’re so layered up in clothes you look like the Michelin man, but the wind is still cutting through you; remember it is simply a season, and it will change. God's good like that.
