The winter

"From now on, as long as the days of the earth are ... the cold and the hot, and the summer and the winter, and the day and the night, shall not cease." Genesis 8. 22

The seasons result from the inclination of the axis of rotation of the earth relative to the plane of its orbit. Therefore, as the Earth progresses in its orbit around the Sun, the orientation of the sun's rays varies according to the time of year.

In Europe, for 3 to 4 months, the sun's rays reach very sloping and temperatures drop. We are talking about the bad season or the winter. The cold that can be sharp attacks our body ; the nights are longer, the sunshine is reduced and our psyche is affected. The sleeping nature is stripped and her life seems to stop.

Holy Scripture speaks of this difficult season. It is part of God's plan. "Summer and winter, it was you who formed them" (Ps. 74, 17). It takes courage to face them. In Paul's time, navigation was stopped in winter on the Mediterranean Sea (Act 27. 12). In all movements, it was necessary to reckon with this difficult period (1 Corinthians 16: 6, Titus 3:12). It is the same for us: the bad weather of winter can shake up our plans and we have to wait until better days.

Is not it poignant, Paul's call to Timothy from his prison in Rome : "Do you come before winter ?" (2 Tim 4:21). And he says : "When you come, bring the cloak I left for Troas" (v.13). Only someone who has suffered from the cold can understand Paul. Literally and figuratively, it was the "bad season" for him.

But all who have gone through long, harsh winters know what sustains them : hope. They know that life will triumph over suffering and death, spring will return.

The Christian can go through trials that are like a winter in his life. All is sadness ; he suffers physically or spiritually. But he knows that God is with him, that he can count on his consolations and that he has foreseen a way out (1 Corinthians 10: 13). Life on this earth depends on the alternation of seasons !

Source (Pleasing the Lord)