It is the middle of February. Are you thankful for winter?
The air is cold. The ground is brittle. The trees are bare. Outdoor activities are almost non-existent. Okay, technically right now the ground is damp from rain… but still, outdoor activities are almost non-existent! What reason is there to be thankful, you might wonder. Much, I would say. Winter is the season for slumber. I don’t mean we should be napping like bears right now (but I’m not saying a good nap isn’t a good idea…). I mean winter is the time when the world around us retreats into itself, awaiting the Spring, when new life will burst with greens, yellows, and purples. Would we love the beauty and life that Spring brings as much as we do if we didn’t have to “endure” three months of lifeless Winter?
There’s something to be said for patiently waiting through hard times to better appreciate the relief that comes on the other side. Israel sang in jubilation when the Exodus came. Do you think their song would have been as boisterous had God freed them a week after the Pharaoh of Egypt put them in bondage? It would have been just as delightful, but the reaction of the people probably would have been a bit more subdued. Joshua led Israel into the Promised Land after forty years of wilderness wandering. The crossing of the Jordan was a momentous occasion, marked by a monument of stones for future generations to admire. It would have been just as marvelous to see the Jordan River split, but I wonder if it had happened forty years earlier if the previous generation of Israelites wouldn’t have shrugged. After all, they saw the Red Sea split!
My point is: Time has a way of changing our perception of things. We’re smack-dab in the middle of winter. You might be miserable right now, with thick socks on your feet and a blanket around your head like somebody’s babushka. So be it. Endure. Be patient. Trust that the season of gloom will soon change, and life will blossom once again.
Maybe you don’t mind the cold. Maybe you love Winter. Fine. Be weird. Everything I said applies to life, which is hard, unrelenting, cold, and full of death. It can depress us and, if we let it, defeat us, too. Endure. Be patient. Trust that the season of gloom will one day change, Christ will one descend with a shout, and life will blossom forevermore. And when that happens, the worldly winter of our discontent will be done away with forevermore, too.
~Matthew