Winter Come Lately

Winter Come Lately

Winter has yet to arrive on the Gulf Coast this year. And we’re not alone. Apparently winter is late in coming all across the country. Folks who have to dig their cars out from snow day after day are probably rejoicing. Even my local friends who savor summer’s heat are thrilled. I, on the other hand, am not. I like cold weather. It brings back good memories of snowball fights with my sister, making snow ice cream, and sledding on heavy-duty garbage bags down hills in Birmingham. (No one in Birmingham bothered to buy a real sled since it only snowed two or three days a year there.) Since it snowed so infrequently, though, we often got early dismissal from school when a substantial snowfall or ice storm was predicted. Sometimes we didn’t even have to go to school. We relished those days just as we relished the beef stew or homemade soup Mom fed us on cold winter nights.

My memories of winter are cozy ones. But my memories of spiritual winters are not so fond. What spiritual season are you in right now? Spiritual winter can be as harsh and unrelenting as a blizzard or as dry as a desert. If you listen and allow God to work, He can provide joy even in the winter and He can provide lessons that can only be learned when the green leaves of summer, the red leaves of fall, and the beautiful spring blossoms are stripped away, leaving stark, naked trees and a gray landscape. Winter reminds us of our dependence on God for everything.

Winter can also be a time of rest and waiting. We wait for the warmer weather, the pretty flowers, the sunshine, and we are reminded to appreciate them and not to take them for granted. We rest and wait on God to renew our strength (Isaiah 40:31) and our spirit. If you are not in spiritual winter, count your blessings. If you are, ask God what He wants you to learn. The writer of Ecclesiastes reminds us in ch. 3 v. 1: “There is a time for everything and a season for every activity under heaven.” In every season, be grateful and seek God’s counsel and remember that seasons change.