Why Winter Is Necessary

For much of the United States, there is a polar vortex assaulting  us with cold air.  We are in the depth of winter.  When the cold bites your nose as you walk out the door, you remember how harsh life can be.  At the same time, there is a beauty to winter's austerity.  

Seasons are necessary components of nature, a natural cycle.  So too, our lives consist of seasons.  There are times of abundant fruit.  There are times of barren loss.  

Are you in a winter season right now?  Some thoughts on winter in nature, and in your life:

Life is paused.
Paralyzed in cold.
A frozen sabbatical.
A dormant cocoon. 
Still, still, waiting.
 
Spring will be a frenzy.
Caffeinated creation.
Summer multiplication.
Bear, the berry hunter.
Leaf, the solar panel.
Worm, the tunnel digger.
 
But today is winter.
All is still, still, waiting.
Tragedy with potential.
Death on the verge of life.
In winter, we wait . . .

• What purpose does God have for the winter of your life?  
• What can you work on during the "cocoon" of winter that will come to life in a season of spring? 
• How can a season of winter be a gift and not a curse?

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“For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven . . . He has made everything beautiful in its time.”  (Ecc. 3:1, 11)

​“The eyes of all look to you, and you give them their food in due season.”  (Ps. 145:15)
 
“See, I have set you this day over nations and over kingdoms, to pluck up and to break down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant.”  (Jer. 1:9-10)

Prayer:  O God of rain time and harvest, of summer and winter, govern and guide the seasons of my life.  I am in winter.  My landscape is dominated by loss.  O Lord, be my warmth in the cold.  Be my shelter in the wind.   Give me times of rest in the dormancy.  Help me see the beauty in the barren trees.  Teach me the lesson of patience and faith.  Work in me now - in this cocoon - that I may soon have wings.   You are the resurrection and the life, and my hope is in you.  Amen.