Crisp mornings, sharp breezes, tingling cheeks and chappy lips, yes, these all too familiar descriptive words tell us all the tale of season change. The long weeks of heat and sun are a distant memory for us Brits. Winter is here!
Who doesn’t love the autumn look, though? The layers, the scarves, the ankle boots, the turtlenecks and the corduroy (which I am 100% digging atm!). Or the winter look; the hats, the fur, the puffer coats and so on. And what about the question that seems to always be on the tip everyone’s tongue by November, “Will it snow this Christmas?”
In the same breath, season change in the UK brings dark mornings and even darker evenings. The sound of cars driving over wet roads, murky puddles, overcast skies, ear muffs and not-so-effective gloves are all marks of winter being in full swing.
I find it hard waking up during those mornings and even harder getting out of bed. Knowing it’s cold in your room and knowing it will be even colder outside can make you just want to curl up and pray your alarm just went off a bit too early…
I find the clearer skies more easy to bear with during the winter months than the dreary ones. Oftentimes, I find myself thanking God for the blue skies and having to encourage myself to thank Him for the grey ones too.
You’d think that Christian’s don’t get affected by a small thing such as the weather, right?! Well I’ll hold my hands up high and say I certainly do.
Christians can be affected by anything in the same way an unbeliever can be – the difference is how we simply approach and deal with it.
Before I go on, let us read the definition of the acronym SAD (Season Affective Disorder).
Seasonal Affective Disorder
noun
depression associated with late autumn and winter and thought to be caused by a lack of light.
Let’s face it, there seems to be a name for everything in the western world, I get it. But the factors, ie ‘a lack of light’ do play a key role in the drop of our mood, as the definition named it ‘depression’. I wouldn’t outright label myself with this disorder, but I can see how certain symptoms I have may correlate to the definition. However, these causes and effects are a real thing and yes, even (some) Christians deal with this. Is it an excuse to sin? Of course not. By no means! Should we allow such labels to define us? Of course not. By no means! Scripture encourages us in the general sense to pray without ceasing, right? Thus, during my low spells, I have found that it is good for me to be consistently and intentionally and quickly airing out my thoughts to our Heavenly, loving Father, whose ear is attentive to our prayers.
All throughout Scripture we are reminded that God is sovereign and that God is indeed good and to be trusted. So all things any given Christian will go through is for their good and ultimately for the glory of God! …Including enduring Downcast British Weather.
We are called to lay down our burdens before God. Maybe that burden is dealing with the fact that you don’t want to do the day because it’s dark and gloomy, in that moment you therefore make the choice to give over that very thought process to God and ask Him for His strength to meet you there.
I am reminded that it is in our weaknesses that God truly shows Himself in our lives to be our strong and mighty God.
Though I thrive better when I see a sunny day, I can still be comforted by God’s presence and His faithful Word on a cloudy day. Even more so, I press on to visit that friend after work or head to fellowship mid week because there’s nothing like being surrounded by people in the faith! I am so encouraged by God’s gift of His body, which He used to strengthen me. During those cold evenings, I am reminded that in my very weakness God truly shows Himself to be my strong and mighty God.
Christ is my light. His Word illuminates my grey days and even greyer mood. He is the lamp onto my feet and picks me up when I stumble. Jesus the Christ came and embodied ‘God Being With Us’. He gave us His Holy Spirit to live in us, who shines His light on our dark path and produces joy in the heart of the believer! Though I may be weary, He gives me wings to sore. Truly, there are days I walk through and by the end I say, “It is only You Lord who brought me through today, Jesus, thank you.”
This blog post is both an encouragement to you and to myself and a testament to God doing His marvellous, relentless work in me in this area. Even such a thing as weather the Lord can use it to refine His children and draw our lowly hearts closer to Him.
Grateful for you reading
G x
