If you spend much time with me, you'll discover pretty quickly that I'm not the biggest fan of winter.
I'm a spring girl and a summer girl through and through. Bring me sunshine, warmth, and humidity. I'm not really the biggest fan of fall (I just lost about 90% of you) and I'm really not a fan of winter. I do appreciate fall and the excitement that it brings with the school year, but I just don't like cold weather that much. And fall --> winter --> less sunlight, more cold.
But every winter around this time, when spring is around the corner, I get a little giddy with joy for the winter. It's like for four months I'm a little blinded to the reality of it all, but for one or two last weeks of the season, I begin to see why winter is a thing and I'm reminded that it's a good thing. I begin to see God's character in the winter and in the transition from winter to spring in ways that I can't seem to see other times of the year.
I've always loved spring for so many reasons, but as I've grown in my relationship with God, I've begun to love it so much for it's reminder to me that God makes all things new, that He brings to life things that were once dead, that joy comes in the morning and that He makes beauty from ashes.
But winter! You can't have spring without winter! You can't have life without death. You can't have newness without oldness. You can't have morning without the night. And you can't make beauty from ashes if ashes weren't there.
So, although generally speaking the anthem of my winter days is get this over with and how long til spring?!, today I am going to share five things about winter. Five things that give me hope, that make me appreciate it {although yes, I do mean appreciate in almost hindsight}, and that point me to Jesus. Because that's really what it's all about.
1. God created seasons, and in this part of the world He created four. He must see there to be goodness in seasons. I can only imagine that even if seasons are a result of the fall on this earth, God is still using them for good, and for His glory. How might God be glorified in His creation? By having His creation glorify Him {Luke 19:40 - Jesus says, "Even if these [disciples] were silent, the very stones would cry out" proclaiming who He is}. The seasons must proclaim God's character and glory in some way, if only just to demonstrate that He is powerful and above all to create seasons in some way. Praise God! He created winter! And even winter glorifies God.
2. The cycle of the seasons is like aspects of the gospel. I love that the transition from winter to But God" - the God who makes all things new! - "being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ - by grace you have been saved - and raised us up..." {Eph 2:4-6}. Spring! New life! Blooms raising up out of the ground! Yes. The seasons proclaim God's glory. Spring brings fresh in my mind the reality of the gospel. In winter, (nearly) everything has stopped producing fruit, the grass starts to die a little, all is quiet and calm. Animals stay in more, people stay in more. It can be windy, hurting our cheeks, or so cold that even the biggest coat only protects us for so long. Does that also describe a life apart from Christ? Yes. Fruitless, death, emptiness, hiding, things that keep us from truly experiencing life. But God makes all things new. Spring shows us a tangible representation of His goodness and grace in our lives through Jesus. Oh, praise Him.
3. Snow. Yes, snow is fun and pretty {although I may be in a small minority that truly only likes it once, and only in the moments where it first begins to fall and cover the grass, and then I'm over it}. But even the Bible talks about snow... "though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow" {Isaiah 1:18} and "wash me and I shall be whiter than snow..." {Psalm 51:7}. Snow covers. It makes it all look beautiful. Takes away the darkness, hides the dirt. And God compares that to how He washes us new in Christ - covering our sin.
4. It causes us to cozy up and be still. I like this for a few days of winter, but in hindsight I appreciate it for so much more than just one or two moments. There's something about winter that tends to quiet our souls in ways that otherwise wouldn't. I mean, talk about the right atmosphere for that - blankets and hot drinks and cozy socks and fires in fireplaces. There's something about stillness before God that gives Him space to speak in our otherwise noisy lives.
5. It always leaves me longing for more. Much like seeing the depths of my sin and the brokenness in my life, winter leaves me longing for something more. Something more than just cold and staying in and not seeing my neighbors as much. My sin keeps me in that place too. We are made to long for life. If you look at any given person's social media post in the past few weeks, you'll likely find a post with something along the lines of "okay, Elsa, game's over, bring on the spring..." I love that winter's longing for spring - for life and newness and sunshine and warmth - reminds me of the longing that each of us have for True Life. It's not unique to people who are not yet Christians. It's part of the lives of each of us who - apart from Jesus - have souls that were once barren in an eternal winter of deadness and decay. And yet, we have hope. Winter brings hope of spring. My dead soul has hope for new life in Jesus.
So, as the last few days of winter stick around {after all, 14 days from today is officially the first day of spring but who's counting?}, I'll be meditating on this. Thanking God for winter. Enjoying the last few moments of cold and barrenness, and reminding myself of all it implies for God's character and the glory He receives from the season itself. And I'll praise Him for it. Join me.
