Winter is the enemy of joy or at least it feels like it is. Winter begins its cycle with the redeeming celebration of Christmas, but it soon falls under a dark cloud of ice and snow. It’s not winter's fault that it’s associated with darkness and anxiety. On the contrary, winter is a symptom of the disease that steals joy, rather than the disease itself.
Winter holds a purpose. The hardest question for me to answer during winter is: “How are you doing?” The reality is life isn’t always as bleak as it feels in winter. God is good. Blessings continue. My needs are always provided for. What was good, beautiful, and true in summer is still true in winter, but the weight of winter amplifies every hard moment.
The Scriptural Pattern of Longing
Winter seasons can be traced throughout Scripture. Often we give them a different name, such as seasons of longing or seasons of waiting. Choose almost any person or story in the Bible and we can trace longing in the narrative:
- Longing for a better life.
- Waiting for a home.
- Longing to be seen.
- Waiting for help to arrive.
Life is pregnant with longing. Exodus and Numbers chronicle long periods of waiting for Israel. God delivered the people out of slavery in Egypt to sit at a mountain base for a year. When it was time for the people to get up and go, they were excited—but the journey was long. The periods of waiting between promise and destination caused frost to threaten their hearts and attitudes.
“Whether it was two days, or a month, or a longer time, that the cloud continued over the tabernacle, abiding there, the people of Israel remained in camp and did not set out, but when it lifted they set out. At the command of the Lord they camped, and at the command of the Lord they set out. They kept the charge of the Lord, at the command of the Lord by Moses.” — Numbers 9:22-23
The Heart Posture of Remaining
It is fairly easy to remain in our physical locations during seasons of waiting. The Israelites weren’t about to pick up their tents and set out by themselves in the wilderness. The same goes for us today. When hard times come, we may dream of greener pastures (or, in my case, a state without snow), but the logistics of selling a house or finding a new job are often impractical. So, we stay.
However, remaining and abiding where God has placed us goes beyond physical location. It’s a heart posture. Jesus was fully aware of the struggle to remain steadfast. His own disciples, the ones who followed God in the flesh, abandoned Him in His hour of need. It is because we are prone to wander that Jesus implores us to abide with Him:
“Remain in me and I in you. Just as a branch is unable to produce fruit by itself unless it remains on the vine, neither can you unless you remain in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. The one who remains in me and I in him produces much fruit, because you can do nothing without me.” — John 15:4-5
To remain or abide means to not depart or leave. It is the faithfulness to be present, intentionally dwelling with and being knit to another.
Finding Hope in the Cold
Many people followed Jesus, but few remained with Him. Similarly, many Israelites followed God’s spirit over the tabernacle, but few knit themselves to God’s presence. As New Testament believers, we have the benefit of the Holy Spirit indwelling us.
Waiting and longing are agonizing, but they are necessary. Winter moments invite us to surrender idols and worship God. They offer blankets of mercy to draw closer to the ever-loving, always-present arms of Christ.
God calls us to be faithful today; tomorrow will care for itself. It may not be easy, but He will make it clear when we are to wait and when it is time to get up and move. C.S. Lewis paints a vivid picture of Christ delivering us from what may feel like eternal winter:
“Wrong will be right, when Aslan comes in sight, At the sound of his roar, sorrows will be no more, When he bares his teeth, winter meets its death, And when he shakes his mane, we shall have spring again."
Winter, waiting, and longing were never designed to sap us of joy or strength. They are meant to stir up love and yearning for a restored relationship with God. They remind you that spring will come. Wrong will be made right. Winter is hard, but don’t lose hope. God is in the business of making all things new.
