We tend to refer to different parts of our lives as seasons, linking them to our natural weather seasons. We experience different seasons in our faith, relationships, and as we age. Winter is used to describe experiences that are barren, challenging, or related to dying. Spring represents youth, new life, and growth. Summer is the warm, satisfying, and joyful parts of life. Autumn connotes maturity, decline, and the end of the sweetness of summer.
These descriptions make the spring and summer seasons seem the most desirable. No one wants to experience decline or death. We all yearn for newness, warmth, and joy. And yet, even the Bible tells us that remaining in one season indefinitely is impossible. Ecclesiastes 3 informs us that there’s a time for everything and a season for every experience. There’s a season for birth and a season for death. A season for joy and a season for mourning. A season of keeping and a season of releasing. A season of laughter and a season of crying.
Ecclesiastes indicates that it’s natural to experience highs and lows, joys and sorrows. While we don’t desire to experience the more negative parts of life, it can be comforting to know that these seasons are normal, they come to all of us, and God is with us through every one. God alone knows what we’ll face throughout our lifetimes and can guide us through even the most challenging of circumstances.
We may have a tendency to thank God for our positive experiences but then act like he’s abandoned us when we enter a darker season. God does not delight in our hardships, he allows them and is prepared to walk through them with us. Because God is omniscient, when he created us, he saw our whole lives stretched out before us. He can see the bumps in our roads, and I believe that he makes holy provisions for us when we’re experiencing a struggle. It’s our job to look for them.

This isn’t a case of seeing the world through rose-colored glasses. It’s choosing to believe that God won’t fail us and asking him to show us the good that can come from our difficult circumstances. “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose” (Rom. 8:28 NIV, emphasis mine). If we’ll seek God’s wisdom especially in trying times, we can redeem the time and deepen our relationship with him.
Read the rest over at The Glorious Table.
Winter is my favorite, because on the surface it feels harsh and bare, but underneath there is rest, growth, and new life (black bears give birth through the winter!). I’ve noticed I tend to be a lot closer to God through the harsh and sad, and need to work on being closer through the joy.
Oh no! it’s winter! The end is here! I’m not worried because it’s only a couple of months until spring and my life is reborn and I get to start another year with hopes of making it better than last year. Winter is also the beginning of the new year and that is very good.
Winter does have its benefits. Thanks for the reminder.
I like your perspective. It’s definitely nice to have a season of rest.