Devotion for January 18
January 18, 2012
O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good… Psalm 106:1
“It hasn’t been a sweater winter.” I told my wife. Winters in the upper Midwest are usually cold enough that I set aside my suits and sport coats for sweaters. This is for the sake of warmth as well as fashion – at least that’s what I tell myself. But this winter has been so warm that I have only worn sweaters on occasion and, frankly, I missed them.
But this morning when I awoke, the wind was blowing and the snow had fallen. Not the dusting as predicted, but a snow fall measured in inches. And the temperature was in the single digits. I chose the sweater I most liked, bounded into the truck and made my way across the tundra of the Des Moines metropolitan area. And I was whistling.
“This is what winter is supposed to be like!” I thought to myself. The blowing snow and cold slowed the traffic and at that early hour even the long-haul truckers were looking for shelter. But I was wearing my sweater, driving carefully and marveling at the beauty of the frozen landscape.
The psalmist declares that God is good – and there is no seasonal restriction on that statement of faith. The goodness of God in the cold of winter is not just sweaters and a feeling that this is what winter ought to be like. Most people don’t know that the freezing and thawing of winter to spring invisibly churn the soil making it rich and productive. The winter snow provides needed moisture for dormant fields making them ready for the spring planting. God is at work in every season creating and making new.
It’s the same in our lives. God is never absent. Instead God takes whatever season we find ourselves facing and works to create blessings, growth and life. Today, I pray that you’ll see the hand of God in your life and know his blessings.
