There is a Season

For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven

Ecclesiastes 3:1 ESV

Spring might be my favorite time of year. There is something about the green sprouting across lawns and trees, flowers popping up from the ground, and warmer weather that makes me feel hopeful and alive. Maybe it’s the cool breezes and warm sun. Maybe it’s the little dandelions my daughter offers up with the sweetest voice. Maybe it’s the fact that we are no longer trapped indoors trying to find ways to keep them entertained until bedtime. Whatever it is about it, it brings happiness to my little family. 

But spring is preceded by winter. Cold, dark, and dull. The trees lack leaves and the evenings lack sunlight. The grass is dull and brown, appearing lifeless, just like the trees, but deep within the roots, life flows waiting for the sun to revive it. 

Can you imagine if each winter, when the leaves forlornly sat on our lawns, we chopped down the trees because they appeared dead? Or if when the grass became crispy and brown, we ripped it up and tossed it into the trash because it no longer looked alive?

That would be ridiculous. We know that the plants around us are not dead, but dormant, waiting to spring forth into vibrant, beautiful colors. 

But how often do we classify areas of our life as dead because we are in our own season of winter? We stare at that part of our life that we have prayed prayer after prayer over, looking for signs of life, signs of movement, of renewal. And when nothing happens, it’s easy to speak death over that area of our life. It’s easy to toss it aside, declaring it over, pointless, not worth the prayers or the effort. 

But in our winter, we can trust that the Son is coming. He will not leave us cold and dark, but He brings life, light, and revival. 

Don’t toss aside the things that appear lifeless in your winter. There is a season for everything, and your spring may be just around the corner. Whatever your situation, your unanswered prayer, if there is still breathe in you or the one your are praying for, there is still hope. It may be buried deep and difficult to see now, but when the Son steps in, life can still burst forth into something beautiful.

Because even the longest winter can’t stop spring from coming.