There are 4 seasons in Ohio. Almost winter. Winter. Still Winter. Construction, or as I affectionately call it – orange barrel season!
The first snow is beautiful. We had our first real snow in Ohio yesterday. It was just a touch early – we still have leaves on the trees!
When we have a white Christmas, we absolutely love it. But the longer winter drags on, the less fond we are of it until we cry out of desperation:
Jesus make it warm!
But we need every season. Even the ones we hate. Even the ones we wonder if we’ll survive with our sanity in tact.
Even the ones we look at and say, “What possible value can be gained from this season? It’s ugly. It’s painful. I hate it.”
Even winter. We need every cold, snowy, air-hurts-my-face day of winter.
In the spring, we get welcome warmer temperatures after a long cold winter. And lots and lots of rain. We love the warm temps but the rain? Meh. We could do without it. But it’s the rain that prepares the ground to receive the seed we’ll plant in summer.
Summer is the best. No need to bundle up. It’s warm. Less rain. More time outside in the sun. At the pool. On the lake. Good vibes. Everybody loves summer. But sometimes that heat can be a scorcher, and nobody likes the higher electric bill! But the sun and heat are necessary for the plants to grow.
Fall is fun. School starts again. We’re back into routines. It’s harvest time. Yummy fresh food. Who doesn’t love freshly picked, Ohio grown corn on the cob? But it gets cooler again. We have to get the jackets out and put the sandals away. And then there’s the rain. Where did the sun go? But again, we need that rain after the harvest to close out the gardens for the year.
And then the dreaded winter. But even winter has a purpose. Sure, the roads get icy. We have to get those snow blowers out and wear boots for months on end. And the air hurts our faces.
But we need winter. The ground and trees an annual plants NEED to lie dormant for a season so they’re fresh and ready to bloom and grow in the next season. If they didn’t, their fruit wouldn’t be healthy.
Take the life of Joseph. (You can start reading it in Genesis 37). He probably hated being a slave and hated prison even more, but God had called him to lead Egypt and save His covenant people from a drought.
When he was a slave, he learned the customs of the people. He learned their eating habits. He couldn’t have gotten that information safely tucked away in Canaan with his family, and it came in handy when he needed to ration the food during 7 years of drought.
Prison had a purpose. If he hadn’t been there, he could never have interpreted the butler’s dream who in turn would never have recommended him for the job of interpreting Pharaoh’s dream.
Prison was Joseph being in the right place at the right time. Selah.
No matter what season you’re in, there’s value in it. There will always be things we don’t like about every stage we walk through. But there’s good there as well. Even in the winter.
And remember you’re not alone. No matter what you walk through, God is there to walk you through it to the next season.
Seasons ALWAYS change. I’ve lived through 47 years of these cycles, and I can tell you from experience I’ve never seen snow in Ohio in July.
So take step back. Take a deep breath. Examine your season. Find something good and focus on that. Thank God for it. Really enjoy it.
I walked through the valley of the shadow of death about 10 years ago. It was so very dark and depressing. My marriage. My hormones. Three little kids running around. Stress at home and work and in our checkbook and in my body.
Everything I knew suddenly changed and nothing felt safe. I searched and searched and the only thing I could find that was praiseworthy was that God is faithful.
The only glimmer of hope I had was what I could see in the promise. The gap between what His Word said was true and what I was experiencing in my life felt like the Grand Canyon. And it felt like that for well over two years.
But guess what, God was faithful. He answered prayer. The sun started to shine and feel warm on my face again. It was a long season, but it was still just that. It was only a season. And as I look back on it now, I thank God for that season. The intimacy that I gained in my relationship with God is priceless. I wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world.
It may be a cold and dark season for you right now, but this too shall pass. It will one day be a distant memory. And I think you’ll be surprised when you look back at it years from now, you may even thank God you walked through it.