Winter is a challenging season. On the outside, winter can make the world look dead. As the tree branches dry out and snow falls to the ground, it can feel like life has always been this way--dry and barren, cold and empty. The sun goes down early, and the world goes dark. It can look so hopeless, not to mention the winter of the soul--the seasonal depression that often accompanies this time of year. The coldness of the season matches the emptiness of our souls. From the outside looking in, the darkness of winter looks completely despairing. But all we can see is the surface level. Underneath the barren winter soil, something is happening. The tiny seeds of a flower lie there, slowly waiting to come to life. Once the storm passes and spring arrives again, they'll break through and color the earth.
The people of Israel went through a metaphorical winter. For 400 years, between the books of Malachi and Matthew, it's believed that God was silent. Malachi received a message from God, but there was complete silence afterward. Undoubtedly, the Israelites felt like the world was barren and hopeless--cold and empty. They had been waiting for a message from God for so long. It felt unlikely that He would speak again. It must have felt like life had always been this way. Silent and so, so dark.
"Will He rescue us?" They must have wondered.
But doubt was giving birth to life underneath the soil, buried within the dirt. Darkness was giving birth to light. All things were about to be made new. "Get ready," God's voice silently pierced through the cold winter air.
When everyone least expected it, winter gave way to spring. The world burst forth in color, and the Messiah was born. The savior of the world had come to rescue His people. Yes, it felt cold for so long--but now the springtime was here. He hadn't abandoned His people. No, He was waiting for the right moment to save those He loves. The Apostle Paul put it this way in Galatians 4:4-5: "When the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship."
The birth of Jesus moved the Israelites out of winter and into spring. When this rebel priest began preaching the kingdom of God to those living in winter, the light had dawned. And when He died for our sins and rose again on the third day, springtime arrived for the whole world.
We're living in the light, friends.
No longer are we bound to the darkness of winter. We are children of the light, thanks to the birth of a baby in a manger. Thanks to this miracle child who left His throne room in heaven to come down and save the earth. He turned the winter into spring and all the darkness into light. This is the hope we have at Christmas. This is hope for the whole world.
I listen to this song every year, led by Benjamin William Hastings, the worship leader of the famous praise band Hillsong Worship. The song holds a nostalgia for me since I've been listening to it since its release in 2018. I remember the season I was in the year it came out. It felt like a cold, bleak winter. Our family was going through a difficult season, with my sister dealing with many health issues and surgeries. Although by Christmas, things were mostly back to normal, the anxiety was still with me. Both literally and mentally, it felt like I was in a winter. But there were words of hope in this song. Words that I still return to year after year.
"You can see my promise/Even in the winter/'Cause You're the God of greatness/Even in a manger/For all I know of seasons/Is that You take Your time/You could have saved us in a second/Instead You sent a child."
That concept has always been so mind-blowing to me. "You could have saved us in a second/Instead, You sent a child."
There could be something to learn in the dark, waiting seasons.
Just like the Israelites lived in the darkness of silence for so long, there was something for them to learn--patience, perhaps, as they were waiting for God's promises to pass. In the same way, there's always a purpose for us in the waiting. In the cold, wintery seasons of our lives, there's a purpose. The darkness is never in vain, but patience is required to see the whole picture.
God could've broken the silence at any moment. He could've saved the Israelites at any moment, but instead, He kept them through a child. There were 400 years of silence and another 30 years before Jesus' ministry began. God doesn't choose the easy way. He chooses the long, hard, beautiful way. The way that requires patience, the one that doesn't make sense at first. He plants a seed in the dirt and waits for it to grow. It sometimes makes sense, and by no means are His ways always conventional. His ways are always so much higher and better than ours. Isaiah 55:8-9 (NIV) says, "'For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,' declares the Lord. 'As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.'"
God chose a virgin girl to give birth to the savior of the world. A stable became a delivery room. Shepherds were the ones chosen to share this good news. None of it made much sense. But then again, so many things in life don't make sense. It doesn't make sense why we go through intense seasons of waiting or why trials are brought into our lives. But for everything, there is a purpose. For every waiting season, there is hope.
Jesus said to His disciples in John 13:7 (NIV) as He washed their feet in the upper room, "You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand."
One day, you will understand. One day, you will know that all the pain was necessary for growth. One day, you will understand why God chose to save you.
You may be waiting in that barren winter season for a while, but God has not forgotten you. He still has a plan. It may take time--sometimes even years for the seed within the dirt to come to life. But He'll never abandon you.
For the Israelites, they must have felt utterly betrayed by God. They must have felt like all the waiting was futile. But it wasn't. In the same way, the waiting is worthwhile for us, too. Jesus will save us, time and time again. It might be in a different way than we expect or on our timetable. He might come through instantly and reveal His glory, but he'll often use unexpected places like a dirty stable to pour forth His miracle power. It might not make much sense now, but one day, you will understand.
"Though the winter is long even richer the harvest it brings/Though my waiting prolongs even greater/Your promise for me like a seed/I believe that my season will come."
Whatever season you're walking through, I pray you know the depths of Christ's love for you. He is with you in the waiting, and soon, His promises will burst into full color like the spring flowers. Until then, hold onto hope. Know that the waiting is not in vain.
Merry Christmas to you all.
Grace Chaves is NRT's News Editor and one of our youngest writers. She's been part of NewReleaseToday since 2019 and is continuing her journey by majoring in Writing at Point Loma Nazarene University in San Diego.
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