Winter and Summer

This time of year in Florida it can be a little confusing. It’s February. It’s officially winter… and yet here we are wearing short sleeves with the air conditioning running and the kids eating popsicles from the freezer. To an English woman like me who knows what winter is meant to feel like, it can seriously mess with my brain! Here in Florida we get all ranges of weather temperatures throughout the winter months. One day we’ll be lying on the beach in sunglasses and the next day we’re wrapped up warm with temperatures below freezing! It seems, as with so many things in life, there are no guarantees for what winter in Florida will look like! This time of year there are days that feel like winter and there are days that feel like summer. But no matter how my body and surroundings may argue the reality or reinforce it, whether we wear our shorts or our slippers, it can’t change fact – it’s still winter!

God and His promises are fact too. They can’t be changed. We may not always feel like He’s with us, and we may look around and even think all the evidence says He isn’t – but the truth remains – He is! He promises to never leave us nor forsake us and that doesn’t change no matter what the enemy may tell us, what we may feel or what the weather of our lives looks like. The peace and steadfast heart that today’s verse talks about comes when we set our focus above what we see and feel around us. It comes when we know the truth and fact of who God is and remember His character – His faithfulness, His trustworthiness, His covenant of love with us.

If we judge God by our circumstances and feelings we’ll sway all over the place and crave peace like a starving baby. If we rely on what we see to understand God’s care and presence in our lives then when life is going well we’ll think God must be happy with us, we must be doing OK, we can feel a sense of wellbeing! But if we view God by these standards then when life has struggles, does this mean He’s disappointed in us and has left us?

The truth is God always remains exactly who He is regardless of what we may think, feel or see. In the midst of life that may well swing around like a Floridan winter – good, bad, happy, sad, hopeless or encouraging – we can remain steadfast and at peace in one simple fact – He never wavers! He never sways! He never alters His character or His love for us. His mercies are new every morning!

Today, whether it feels like winter or it looks like summer in your life, remember the Lord, remember who He is and hold tight to fact! Draw close to Him, and worship Him regardless of what life may look or feel like. Almighty God who holds all things in His hands and holds you close and calls you His child, loves you with an unchanging, unwavering love. As we seek to know Him more our hearts will become steady and unshaking even if the world around us spins in confusion. As He steadies our hearts with the knowledge of who He is, we experience peace that is beyond what we can ever have hoped for!

Prayer: Lord Jesus, I am sorry that I sometimes judge You and Your presence by what I observe of my circumstances and by how I feel. Lord I hold fast to the knowledge that You Yourself never change and Your promises never alter, no matter whether I’m having a good day or a bad day. Lord I fix my eyes on You and I choose to trust in Your steadfastness. Please Lord, speak Your truth to my heart and keep me in Your peace as I seek always to know You more. In Jesus’ name, Amen.