Winter, Spring, Summer, and Fall!

The past couple of Chicago days have been glorious. As I drove to work the summer sun said to me, stay outside a little while longer, don’t go into a building where you are trading artificial light for me. The gentle breeze was so refreshng as it danced upon my skin – it is days like this that make you say, “yes, Chicago is alright after all!” And it helps you forget the bitter, cold winds that whipped through your very soul just a few months ago.

I can remember many years ago walking down a street in Los Angeles, and saying to the Lord, “Lord I could do this – I could live here.” I was born and raised in Chicago and yet I have never responded to the cold weather with joy – and even though I love the beauty of the snow upon the streets and trees for about maybe a day – I could trade the winter for the mild temperatures in California any day.

Even as I spoke those words, I knew I was going to hear back from the Lord, and I did. He responded by saying to me, “You need winter.” I knew immediately thiis simple message was one that was not going to go away for awhile. And sure enough, for years, I heard those simple words come back to my spirit – in fact each and every time I would go through a test or trilal, that conversation I had with the Lord would come back. For years I rejected the simple truth of this message – what did I need winter for? Why did I need those times in my life which were cold and barren and unfruitful? Why did I have to suffer the darkness of unanswered prayers; the trauma of my heart breaking; the sense of loss – even with things that I never had, only wanted so much I felt I should have them.

It took many years before I was able to accept those words and realize the wisdom of my God who knew that for me I needed to go through some things – I needed to have situations that were seemingly impossible – to have my faith grow; I needed to have real pain healed by the Lord to know that in fact He can “trade your sorrows into joy – unspeakable joy!” I also learned to appreciate what Peter said in 1 Peter 1:7:

“I know how great this makes you feel, even though you have to put up with every kind of aggravation in the meantime. Pure gold put in the fire comes out of it proved pure; genuine faith put through this suffering comes out proved genuine. When Jesus wraps this all up, it’s your faith, not your gold, that God will have on display as evidence of his victory/”

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As human beings, we don’t fully appreciate the summer sun if we have never felt the bitter sting of a raging winter day; nor do we know the undergirding ability of a TEST that became a TESTIMONY to give us the courage to do impossible things in Jesus name!

God Bless You,
Maria