A Soul-filled Winter

Winter! It’s February and it’s here! It can be harsh and it can seem long but we expect it as part of our changing Canadian seasons.  “As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will never cease.” (Gen. 8:22) Sometimes though, our winter experience is an emotional or spiritual season.  Instead of growth and stability, there is uncertainty, weariness, even a hollowness, historically described as ‘the black night of the soul.” It seems that nothing is happening even though in the midst of this dormancy, God is often at work in our inner lives, refining & renewing.

Winter invites us to slow down, reflect and examine our hearts and motives. It is a time to remember that God is with us in all seasons. As Psalm 23:4 (NIV) states, “Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me…” God will sustain us, guide us & give us peace.

During this current sermon series “Wounded,” we have an opportunity to embrace a time of renewal emotionally and spiritually.  We can open our hearts to God who will help us develop new growth and fresh beginnings.  Spring always follows winter!

Faye Croswell