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As I sat in my living room after New Years with a blanket wrapped around me to keep out the cold, I gazed out my window into the grey, dreary day whose frigid air kept me bundled up in my house with no desire to go outside. Those kind of days have an effect on my psyche and I was pondering hope and times during our lives when it seems to wear thin. The days can seem dark, cold, and lifeless as we struggle to remember what warmth and sunshine feels like.
Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful. Hebrews 10:23
This has been a cold winter so far, colder than it has been in the last several years. From before Christmas until just a day or two ago, the temperature has not gotten above freezing and it even dipped into the single digits. I realize this is normal for those of you from a northern climate, but here in the mid-south, that’s cold! During Christmas I had 15 kids in my house who, on a normal occasion, would spend as much time outside as inside regardless of the temperature. But this year no one even asked, it was way too cold for that!
It’s only the first part of January and already I’m hearing people say they’re hoping it will warm up soon. Well, as it typically stays cold through February, I think we’ve got more to come. But here’s one thing I know, it will warm up! The skies won’t stay this dreary grey color, the trees and grass won’t stay dead, and I won’t always have to wear three to four layers on my body just to avoid freezing.
As a matter of fact, that is one thing I love about the seasons – the predictability and dependability. I know that come October or November the weather will start cooling off and the leaves will change color and start falling from the trees. Grass will turn a gross yellow color and maybe we will get snow. By the end of January I will feel like the deadness will last forever – the trees will never be green again and I’ll never get to pull out my shorts and flip-flops again. The lack of life is sad and depressing – almost hopeless. But, even though there are no signs of life, I know that life will come again. I know this because it has never NOT happened. Fall and winter always follow summer, and spring always follows winter. Sure enough, towards the beginning of March, we will begin to see the first buds on the trees reminding us that hope is not gone, it was just hiding for awhile.
While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease. Genesis 8:22
This is a beautiful picture of God’s faithfulness. Just like I can count on the weather to warm up again, I can count on God to be faithful. When we are in the middle of a dark season of life where it is a struggle to just … keep … going … It doesn’t seem like life will ever be happy again. There doesn’t seem to be any good waiting around the corner or light at the end of the tunnel. It is then that we must remind ourselves that God is faithful. He is faithful and life will get better.
Those are the times we need to immerse ourselves in the Psalms — praying the words and soaking them in. David wrote a lot of the psalms and God was faithful in his life. He had highs and he had lows, and his lows were very low!! But God was faithful and brought all His promises to pass! In addition to David, we need to be reminded of the countless times in scripture that God was faithful to His word. I recently read about the return of the Israelite exiles to the land. God had promised through His prophets that He would bring them back, and He did.
Beyond looking to the scriptures for pictures of God’s faithfulness, we must remember the good things He has done in our lives. He is good and life will be good again!! Here and here are more ways to get you through the hard times.
