Have you ever observed children playing outside when a change in season has occurred? In the fall, children jump in great mounds of leaves for hours and hours. In the winter, they make snow angels and build snowmen until they suddenly start crying hysterically because their fingers are burning from numbness. Through the joys and tears of the changing seasons, children usually do not notice that one thing always remains the same outside—the sun and its life-sustaining warmth.
Our lives are much the same. As we indulge in—or just survive—through each change in season of our lives, one thing remains the same: the Son of God and His life-giving light, through His death and resurrection. Like children who take pleasure in jumping in leaf piles for hours, the Lord blesses us with seasons of joy:
- a student walking across the stage receiving a diploma
- a father holding his newborn son for the first time
- an elderly woman listening to college students singing the comforting hymn “Away in a Manger” at her nursing home
Times like these should make it easy for us to thank God for His many temporal blessings and for the gift of His Son for us. But we so often forget.
When the season changes and the snow is numbingly cold on our fingers, we struggle to see the Lord’s blessings:
- a loved one is beginning to suffer with dementia and is causing stress to surface in the family
- a child is no longer speaking to a father because of conflict
- a mother loses her child to miscarriage
It is in those moments, when we are at our lowest, when we are angry at God and ask “Why did you let this happen to me!” that we pray for the Holy Spirit to come through the Word to strengthen our faith. He reminds us, “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble” (Psalm 46:1).
Though our lives are full of suffering and challenges, we take comfort that the Lord blesses us with His Son, the Light of the world, who is never changing.
We read in Hebrews 13:8, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” What joy and comfort those words bring. No matter how cold our winters get here on earth, we will be home in heaven soon enough because of God’s love for us in His Son, Jesus Christ—and oh, how warm heaven will be!
Hilary Haak is the mission and ministry director of Lutherans For Life. She would love to help you start a Life Team or Life Chapter in your area. contact Hilary directly at 713.677.1881 or hhaak@lutheransforlife.org.