QUESTION BOX #3

Winter appears to be giving us a break for the rest of the week. It has been so cold and miserable the last week or so, my family has just stayed inside as close to the fire as possible. The picture to the right is from last year's archive because we haven't even wanted to venture out.

But as school and church are back in session tonight and we are seeing the light at the end of the tunnel, I thought a good question to answer from the question box this week would be:

"WHY DOES SUMMER GO BY FAST AND WINTER DRAG ON?"

Now scientifically this seems counterintuitive, since the days are actually shorter during the winter and longer in the summer. However, I believe Albert Einstein put it best:

"When you are courting a nice girl, an hour seems like a second. When you sit on a red-hot cinder, a second seems like an hour.”

Definitely he is on to something, as when you are busy enjoying yourself at the lake, barbecuing, spending warm evenings outside with friends and family, time goes by quickly. But when you are stuck inside with nothing to do, time drags on.

However, I believe Scripture gives us another view of the winter.

Genesis 18:22 tells us: “As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will never cease.”

Isaiah 55:10-12 says: “For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven, And do not return there without watering the earth And making it bear and sprout, And furnishing seed to the sower and bread to the eater; So will My word be which goes forth from My mouth; It will not return to Me empty, Without accomplishing what I desire. And without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it. For you will go out with joy and be led forth with peace; The mountains and the hills will break forth into shouts of joy before you, And all the trees of the field will clap their hands.”

And Psalm 74:17 says: “It was You who set all the boundaries of the earth; You made both summer and winter.”

All of this tells us a few things. One, God is in control. He made the seasons. So, if He made the seasons, it would stand to reason that there is a reason! Two, in order for us to survive, there must be a rhythm of planting, growing, harvesting, furloughing and repeat, so that we can have food. But third, and maybe most important to us, that all requires a time of rest, both for land and worker. God sets that model from the beginning when he challenged us to rest on the seventh day. Then throughout Scripture He continues to challenge us to take not just weekly, but seasonal and annual times of rest.

So God's desire is for you to use the long downtime of winter to reflect, rest, read, renew, so that when new life comes in the spring you are a ready to be a part of it.

So I pray that you used your last few snow days to rest and I pray that you are ready for what God has next in your life!