Do You Have Joy in Winter?

This morning I heard new songs at the Riverwalk. Not the stalwart red-winged blackbird that faithfully sings through the winter, but a new lilting refrain, fresh and clear.

The river sang a different tune as well, popping and creaking at its ice-rimmed edges.

In chorus, they sounded jubilant.

“Sing to the Lord, all the earth,” the psalmist wrote.

He continues: “Let the field be joyful and all that is in it. Then all the trees of the woods will rejoice before the Lord, for He is coming” (Psalm 96:1, 12-13 NKJV).

Even in winter’s frigid grasp, creation sings the Lord’s praises. There is a lesson for me here. In tight frozen places or from yet unfruitful, dormant endeavors, I can praise Him. By simply acknowledging His faithfulness, I loosen the ice and stretch my limbs and find again that His joy is my strength.

May you find the same during these crispy winter days.

Do not sorrow, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.

                                            –Nehemiah 8:10

More than one reminder

God gave us more than one sign of His assurance to sustain life. We usually think of the rainbow marking His promise to never again send a life-ending flood. But that is His reminder, not ours.

He did more than set the colorful bow we often see following a rainstorm.

He gave us the seasons: Spring’s fragrant budding, summer’s rich growth, autumn’s golden harvests, and winter’s snowy cloak.

The seasonal cycle reminds us of His faithfulness and assures us that we, too, will rise following our winter days to the newness of life in Christ.

“And never again will I destroy all living creatures, as I have done.

As long as the earth endures,

seedtime and harvest,

cold and heat,

summer and winter,

day and night

will never cease.” 

—Genesis 8:21-22 (NIV)