Spring. Summer. Fall. Winter. Which is your personal favorite? Which of the four seasons do you look forward to the most? When asked that question, my answer has always been the same: winter! Without hesitation – without having to ponder the question, or taking a few moments to contemplate my response – winter! I have always detested the heat of summer, dreading those sweltering, humid days of misery. But I have always anticipated with great excitement the arrival of winter.

I do need to make a bit of a confession here. For much of my life, I only gave serious thought to two seasons: winter and summer. To me, spring was just a brief transitional period between winter and summer, and fall a brief transition between summer and winter. I never really gave much serious thought to these two transitional periods. But, when you consider the lunar calendar, you see that each of the four seasons are of equal duration. Each of the four is equivalent in time to each of the others. So, each of the seasons should be given equal consideration.

This really never became quite so clear to me until I had the privilege to live in the mountains of east Tennessee. Granted, I have only been here eight months, so I have not experienced the fullness of all four seasons, but I have seen enough to make a few personal observations. Arriving in late summer, I witnessed the majestic beauty of the transition between summer and fall. The mountainsides were ablaze with color. Red. Orange. Yellow. Brown. Colors bursting forth, replacing the prevalent green of summer. Such a spectacular sight.

But the brilliant colors of fall soon faded. The leaves began falling from the trees as the life-giving chlorophyll stopped flowing through the veins of the leaves. Fall slowly morphed into winter. The trees that were a few weeks earlier clothed with the greenery of foliage were now barren, seemingly lifeless. The icy fingers of winter began to entomb the trunks and branches, and it appeared that death itself had sucked the very life from the forests. The coldness and hardness of winter entombed the mountains with what appeared to be complete lifelessness. No more birds singing in the trees. No more squirrels scampering from limb to limb. An eerie, solemn, quiet fell over the mountainside. All signs of life are now gone.

The season of barrenness seemed to go on without end. Of course there were times of exquisite beauty in the midst of the barrenness. There were those mornings when we would awaken to a fresh-fallen snow. The brown, barren limbs of the trees would be covered with the bright, shimmering beauty of snow. Everything would appear so clean, so fresh, so majestic. But, alas, it would not be long before the barren limbs would once again be revealed as the snow slowly melted and disappeared.

The icy fingers of winter would slowly subside as once again the seasonal change began its transformational work. Barren limbs burst forth with the budding of new leaves. Flowering trees and shrubs dazzle the eye as reds, yellows, purples, blues, and oranges begin to glow in the warmth of the sunlight. So many different shades and hues of green blanket the mountainside with what appears to be new life springing forth from the grips of death. Birds are heard singing; squirrels are seen scampering; deer are observed grazing; signs of life are everywhere!

As the barrenness of winter gives way to the newness of spring, it is a visible, vibrant reminder that should give us renewed hope. This winter, we have not only gone through the barrenness of nature, but also through the devastation of a world-wide pandemic. We are still in the grip of this invisible enemy. The end of this battle is not yet quite in sight. However, let us hold on to the hope that this, too, will pass. The tenacious tentacles of this disease have reached the far corners of this globe we call earth, and it has not easily withdrawn its grasp.

Let us remind ourselves that this is not the first pandemic, and it will not be the last. But history proves that each of the previous pandemics have, after a period of time, subsided. It will be the same with Covid-19. How long will it last? No one knows for sure. What will be the final number of lives lost to this enemy? The record will remain unknown for a time to come.

How will we recover from the devastation left in its wake? This is one I can answer with absolute confidence: we will recover by the grace of God. It is His grace that sustains us in times of difficulty, as it does in times of prosperity. Will we ever return to “normal” after the ravages of this enemy?

I, for one, pray not. I pray that things will be vastly different. I pray that we will no longer take things for granted. Things like social gatherings, going shopping without wearing masks, shaking hands without fear of spreading or catching some invisible bacteria, walking the street without giving thought to social distancing. I pray that the Christians in our nation will no longer take for granted the freedom we have to worship corporately, and that we will no longer be intimidated about sharing our faith with our unbelieving family and friends. I pray that the coldness of this horrible season will give way to a new season of sharing our faith, showing our love, and making much of Jesus.

Seasons come and seasons go. This season will one day be behind us. We will look back with gratitude that God allowed us to survive, and we will look back with humility knowing that many didn’t. As Christians, we will – through the eyes of faith – see a sovereign God who is still enthroned, and know that, yes, all things work together for good to those who love God.

I would like to close this blog by sharing the words of one of my father’s favorite songs, Farther Along:

Farther along we’ll know more about it
Father along we’ll understand why
Cheer up my brother, live in the sunshine
We’ll understand it all by and by.

Tempted and tried we’re oft made to wonder
Why it should be thus, all the day long
While there are others, living about us
Never molested though in the wrong.

When death has come and taken our loved ones
It leaves our home so lonely and drear
And then do we wonder, why others prosper
Living so wicked year after year.
 
When we see Jesus coming in glory
When He comes down from His home in the sky
Then we shall meet Him in that bright mansion
We’ll understand it all by and by.

Farther along we’ll know more about it
Father along we’ll understand why
Cheer up my brother, live in the sunshine
We’ll understand it all by and by.