The temperature outside is frigid and the ground cold, dead, and hard. December may conjure up warm memories for many because of the holiday but to me this month symbolizes a turning point. It is the end of one of the most difficult years I’ve ever experienced, especially as a mother and daughter. Its days are short and darkness chases the light from its precarious perch.

But winter’s slumber will soon give way to spring’s thaw and the newness of life that is inevitable. Should the new year prove to be as heart wrenching and challenging as this one has been, I will greet it with the same joyous hope that our God is sovereign and that whatever He ordains is right. Weariness may overtake me, tears may salt my face, but to look to the beautiful face of Christ is the only strength I need. I hope for a calmer year but if it conflicts with His will, it is hope misplaced. Should He choose to wound me further still, I will cling to Him all the more.

I cannot express well enough that though the tempests rage around me, I am safely sheltered in His bosom. The pain, the tears matter not if I remain in Him. There are dark days when everything overwhelms me but just as quickly I am reminded of His love. And it is enough. Out of winter, spring comes. Not as a gentle change, but one that is blustery, stormy, and cold still. Yet new life emerges from the cold, dead ground. It tenaciously holds on as the weather, in different forms, thrashes it about. Its roots dig deeper and it drinks in the water of life. What is adversity but the conditioning of the soul?

In darkness the light shines brighter still. In adversity I am made strong. Winter is the prelude to spring, and spring the forerunner of eternal summer. To whom can I complain? Surely not the Sovereign King who sets me dancing in the cold of winter. Its chill nips at my soul but my heart is warmed over with the love of Christ.

Out of winter, spring emerges. And I am content.

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Image courtesy of dan at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

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