Goodbye Winter!

by Katie Harding on February 26, 2004

Welcoming something new is often a time to say goodbye to something old. As I look out my windows and see the buds beginning to form on the trees, it is a sign the weather is becoming warmer and the days are getting longer. So, I prepare myself to say goodbye to one of my favorite seasons of the year — winter.

I love when the temperatures dip down into the twenties, and it’s cold enough to wear heavy winter coats. I love exhaling and seeing my breath in the cold nightly air. I love wearing hats, gloves, and scarves, especially my pink ones. And I love all the trees without their leaves and seeing their true shapes — the bent trunks and their wide overarching branches growing up and out.

But what I love most is the light. Not the light of extended hours in our days because in standard time daylight it is actually shortened. But I love the streetlights I can only see from our living room windows three to four months of the year. All other times they are blocked completely by the view of the leaves on the trees. But for just a few months, without the leaves, my view extends beyond the trees, and I can see the light piercing the darkness.

The light is attractional, and it is this light — the light of the streetlights — that brings me great joy throughout winter. Every time I look out my window I see it; it garners my attention, it draws my focus in, and it reminds me of one of the greatest truths of Jesus, “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it” (John 1:5).

The Light of Christ is ever-present in our world and no matter how dark the darkness gets, nothing can overcome the Light of Christ. But the light shining in the darkness doesn’t only apply to the darkness in our world; it also applies to the depth of darkness within our souls.

While we were yet sinners, before we were even cleaned up and the darkness of sin ruled our lives, God placed His Light within us through the indwelling presence of His Holy Spirit. In the olden days, people had to clean up to enter God’s presence. But without making us go through the ritual of purification first, God came into our presence — He brought His Light into the neighborhood — to help with the cleanup process Himself. That is His grace. While we were yet sinners, we were made alive together with Christ. “What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people” (John 1:3-4).

Once we have accepted Christ, His Light shines in the depths of our souls, and any remaining darkness — even on our toughest days — cannot overcome it. And the more we listen to Jesus and follow Him and His ways, the more the light infiltrates any darkened crevices and shines brighter through us into the world around us. We become streetlights, casting the bright Light of Christ into our darkened world. This is what I think about when I see the streetlights from my windows. This is why I love winter.