For those who may like the cold and snow of winter, this season of the year can’t last long enough.  In my younger years, I was one who enjoyed the winter snow and the activities it allowed us to enjoy.  However, for those who we could skip from the fall to the spring season without the torment of winter, our only option is to endure it the best we can with one goal in mind: keeping warm!

 

Keeping warm in a physical sense requires being properly dressed.  It includes hats, gloves, and long underwear.  It necessitates having a car heater that produces the maximum amount of heat, and quickly as possible!  It means having a furnace that is efficient.  It may even include having an extra blanket on the bed at night.

 

Being cold can be both tiring and depressing as well.  Being cold makes us long for the warmth of the sun, for there is nothing worse than a cold and cloudy day.  At least when the sun is shining amidst the cold temperatures, the brightness of the day seems to cheer our souls!

 

In a more significant way, however, we can find warmth in winter in a spiritual way as well.  It does not require hats, gloves, or even an extra blanket.  What it does require is a deepened awareness of God’s love and grace, for there is nothing that warms our hearts more than knowing that God loves us and has a purpose for us!

 

What’s so wonderful is that God freely offers his love and grace to those who are struggling with the cold realities of life.  The apostle Paul says it best, “My grace is sufficient for you …” (II Corinthians 12:7-9).  The warmth of knowing God provides for our needs, and supplies his love in situations that make us feel frozen in time and circumstance is what allows us to enjoy the thawing abundance of His blessings.

 

So don’t let the cold get or keep you down!  Rather, allow God’s love and grace to warm your soul with His goodness!

 

Pastor John