Winter.
…You made both summer and winter.
Psalm 74.17
I really don’t like winter.
Here in London summer still seems to be hiding behind the grey clouds. The cold winds are doing their best to keep the sun blown away. The drizzle is trying to dampen everything and keep winter here instead.
You see, I love summer! I love the warmth and light and long nights. I love seeing things come back to life again in the Spring after the dark, lifeless winter months.
Little green shoots appearing again on bland, seemingly dead branches. Empty trees covered in blossom and bright, shiny new life. Animals waking up; feeding their young. Birds starting each day with their song and chatter.
Every year the same cycle. Cold & warmth. Darkness & light. Lifeless & alive again.
We always have to wait for Summer to arrive, and it seems to take forever! It can’t come fast enough.
Why can’t it always be like this?
Why aren’t the trees always green? Why isn’t life always reproducing? Why the wait? Why the longing?
Why can’t it always be summer?
Wait.
What if it was always summer?!
What if it was always beautiful and warm and full of life? I’d love it!
But actually, wouldn’t it become samey and unappreciated? With too much of a good thing, doesn’t it just get ignored eventually? Forgotten about? It’s not acknowledged, it’s never new, it becomes old.
So actually, seeing things die and come back to life each year, it helps me see Jesus’ transforming power again and again!
Dragging on through those long, dark cold months makes me long for the warmth of summer. I love watching my God turn Winter into Summer. And when it finally arrives, I get so excited seeing my apple tree burst out in new leaves and flowers that will soon turn into fruit! I love watching the brown, dead valley out my window erupt in colour of greens, purples and yellows.
Right there Jesus is bringing the dead things back to life. He’s doing what he does best –
reviving
awakening
transforming.
He’s done it my heart. Scratch that. He’s doing it in my heart. Again and again. Season by season. Year by year. It’s not a one time thing – a permanent summer. He’s reinvigorating me and inspiring me to carry on living by faith each day. Trusting him. Enjoying him. Worshiping him. Following him.
I need the cycle. I need the reminders of what lifelessness looks like. So I can watch in wonder again at the power of my Creator in bringing things back to life!
