"You're the God of seasons, I'm just in the winter."-Seasons, Hillsong Worship
This song has been my anthem since November; it fits right into the "wait" theme God has placed on my life right now. I already talked about this in a past post (King David Had To Wait, Too), but that was mainly about WHY we sometimes have to wait. I did not get into how to actively live that out because frankly, I had no idea how to do it myself.
Waiting is not easy to do; it is one of those things where it may appear easy at the surface, but when you look deeper, it is clear that it is one of the hardest things to do. It was not that I did not want to wait well, I just genuinely did not understand how to. This is one of the many things the Father has had to teach me along the way, and I am still learning. I just felt like sharing what He has revealed to me so far. Let's grow through this together!
Last week, it snowed on campus, but yet, my classes did not get canceled. Not a single one. To be transparent with you all, I was so annoyed walking to class in two jackets, both leggings and sweatpants, a beanie, and boots with freezing temperatures. Through my irritability, however, I took the time to appreciate the beauty all around me. A smile formed as I began to forget that my classes were still in session that day and instead chose to appreciate God's majesty.
Then, today walking back to my dorm after my last class of the day was finished, I did not need a jacket, and I actually heard birds chirping. I thought birds chirping in February, that's odd. That same smile from last week began to break out as the Holy Spirit gave me peace, and then, I had the most beautiful thought.
There is beauty and warm in the winter.
Seasons by Hillsong compares a season of waiting to the season of winter and encourages us that just as it does in nature, this "winter" in our own lives will eventually end with the harvest coming right behind it. There is a message in the song that I've always missed up until today, though: there is something to be found in the right now.
I listened to that song so much not because I liked waiting but rather because I liked the idea that someday it would be over. If that's the mindset, just to "get through" the waiting, I'll never truly find what God clearly thinks is so important for me to learn right now. There is beauty and warm to be found right now.
God told me to wait not to sulk until I get what I am waiting for. He wants me to wait because even in the winter, He will make something extraordinary just like the snow blanketing the ground in white last week. Lamentations 3:26 says, "It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the LORD." This verse uses the word "good" to describe waiting. That is almost the exact opposite way that we tend to look at waiting, but when you look from God's perspective, it is indeed "good." Another interesting aspect of this verse is that it says "both hope and quietly wait." BOTH. Have hope that you are waiting for something special, and do not feel like God is punishing you. After all, He said in His Word it is good to wait.
I do not know about you, but I want to stop groaning about the waiting and start hoping! I want to find the beauty He has in this winter. I want to rest in His warmth because it is much stronger than this world's cold.
