The Changing Season
The mountains surrounding my valley home have fully embraced the autumn season. 
The air is crisp as the snowline descends. I feel drawn to cozy sweaters and thick wooly socks. Hearty meals appeal to my desire for comfort. While a part of me mourns the loss of summer, I also welcome the familiar shift of fall with its boldness and beauty. I am reminded that seasons change and winter is on its way.
I spend a lot of time at the river which runs only a few kilometers from my home. As I walked one day last week, the explosion of colour captivated me. It drew me to prayer as I reflected on God’s design of seasonal change. The bright yellow and orange hues of the leaves signal intentional rest, facilitating spring’s fresh growth. This was not new information to me, but somehow the simple truth landed with spiritual significance: God uses the changing of seasons to bring rejuvenation.
The Season of the Soul
The dark and dreary days of West Coast winters are not my favourite. Similarly, I resist the winter season of the soul. Scripture often refers to this place as the ‘wilderness’ or the ‘desert’. The first part of Deuteronomy 32:10 says, “He found him in a desert land, and in the howling waste of the wilderness…” This place is characterized by discomfort, darkness and the wild unknown. For some, it may become a place of spiritual depression, as expressed by St. John of the Cross in his poem, “The Dark Night of the Soul.”
Some of us have known this darkness and have struggled to find a way out. Others may not relate to the depth of such angst, but understand the dryness or harshness of a winter season. As I walked the other day, I was thinking about how these spiritual seasons are necessary for our growth. When I felt lost and confused, it seemed God was distant and unwilling to answer my cries for help. I felt utterly alone, and it frustrated me to cry out and see no change.
Spring is Coming
I have learned that when entrenched in a tough season, it can be helpful to call to mind cognitive truth. While feelings can provide useful information, they are seldom reliable. When my heart wants to scream that God doesn’t care or He has abandoned me, I need to go to the Bible to remember what is true. Psalm 139:3 says that God is ‘intimately acquainted with all our ways.’ Psalm 103 states ‘The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in love.’ These are the words I have needed to rehearse when my thoughts betray my faith.
Once I can see a faint light forming on the horizon, then I dare to look further. Maybe, just maybe, I can begin to see validity in the winter season and find worth in the struggle. Scriptures like this one in Isaiah 43 allow me to see that God will come through.
18 “Forget the former things;
do not dwell on the past.
19 See, I am doing a new thing!
Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?
I am making a way in the wilderness
and streams in the wasteland.
Not Convinced?
Oh, I hear you, friend! I am not so naïve or ignorant to think reading a few verses will transform deep depression or heal the pain that may have landed you there. Sometimes the miraculous descends and it is over in an instant, but most of the time freedom comes little by little. In my work as a coach, I have seen both – one is not less than the other. The point is this: spring is coming…it always does. Sometimes the winter season is extraordinarily harsh, with bitter 
winds and frigid temperatures, but spring eventually shows up. The fresh breezes bring blossoms that promise a harvest. This is God’s divinely genius plan.
Consider what it would look like if one season remained. The new growth of spring cannot continue without end, nor can the hot, dry winds of summer. Fall would mean perpetual transition and winter would leave us dormant, living in a state of hibernation. You see, we need each season so that each quarter can achieve its intended purpose. If fall wouldn’t arrive with its transition, summer might become onerous. Without the rest and dormancy of winter, there would be no opportunity for spring to burst on the scene.
Scripture
So let’s look at the Word of God to see what help we can find. What does Scripture have to say about this process?
- Psalm 63:1 O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you;
my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water. - Deuteronomy 32:10 He found him in a desert land, and in the howling waste of the wilderness; he encircled him, he cared for him, he kept him as the apple of his eye.
- Isaiah 58:11 And the Lord will guide you continually and satisfy your desire in scorched places and make your bones strong; and you shall be like a watered garden,
like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail. - Jeremiah 17:8 He is like a tree planted by water that sends out its roots by the stream,
and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green,
and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit. - Psalm 107:9 For he satisfies the longing soul, and the hungry soul he fills with good things.
Our Part
These verses could seem like pat answers or pie in the sky. Perhaps you are thinking, “I have cried out and God has done none of this for me.” I hear you…I understand because I, too, have said those words. I have literally wept before God and begged for Him to meet me. When there seemed to be no response, it fueled anger, resentment and bitterness in some seasons. So, if that is where you are, there is no judgement. I get it.
But what can we do in this place? Scripture is quite clear about what our part is. Let’s look at some of the verses surrounding those above.
- Psalm 63:2-3 So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary, beholding your power and glory. Because your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise you.
- Isaiah 58:9-10 Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer; you shall cry, and he will say, ‘Here I am.’ If you take away the yoke from your midst, the pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness, if you pour yourself out for the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted, then shall your light rise in the darkness and your gloom be as the noonday.
- Jeremiah 17:7 Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord.
- Psalm 107:4-6 Some wandered in desert wastes, finding no way to a city to dwell in; hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted within them. Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress.
Humility
I see humility modelled for us in these verses. There is a dependence and trust required of us if we are to experience the goodness of God. With a dry and weary soul, the psalmist enters the sanctuary with a sacrifice of praise. Isaiah is calling for service and justice. Crying out with a heart of trust seems to be at the very centre of a difficult season.
I’m sure you have spent much time trying to figure out what that this looks like. You have prayed, studied and asked others to join you in the battle. Maybe you have sacrificed food, sleep, relationship, work, or ministry in looking for breakthrough. I don’t have the answers for you, friend, but I know the frustration and loneliness in this place.
My own journey is all I can speak of with any amount of certainty. I needed to be honest with myself about what lurked deep within my heart. I needed to own wrong attitudes and sinful desires. Confession and humility led me out of the season of darkness. I chose to worship when I had no words. I rehearsed truth that seemed empty in the moment. Sometimes all I could do was put one foot in front of the other and believe that God was doing something that I couldn’t see. I chose to believe that little by little He was achieving His plan for me (Ex. 23:30).
What now?
Our most powerful weapon is prayer. You may not have words to speak into this season, but I would love to lift it to the only One able to make a difference.
Father God, we don’t understand Your ways; they are far higher than ours. We read these verses and understand on a cognitive level that You are filled with compassion and love. You are good, kind, generous and faithful. But I bring our frustration to You, Lord. Sometimes You seem the opposite! You seem distant and unconcerned, silent and aloof. So in faith, I ask for patience and endurance, Lord. Help us cling to You even when we don’t see or understand. Allow us to hear Your voice louder than our own, shoving the doubt and disbelief down. Help us to claim and walk in Your ways so we will see You come through. Then Lord, give us words to praise You, giving You all the credit! That’s what we’re hoping for. Move in these situations Father and have Your way…please.
If you need help sorting through the difficulty of this season, please reach out. I would love to support you through personal coaching. Perhaps therapy is needed right now. Or find a trusted friend or mentor to walk alongside you. Regardless, remember this: SPRING IS COMING and you are not alone.
