A Prayer to Get Through a Hard Season
By Tammy Darling
Bible Reading:
“My beloved spoke and said to me, ‘Arise, my darling, my beautiful one, come with me. See! The winter is past; the rains are over and gone. Flowers appear on the earth; the season of singing has come, the cooing of doves is heard in our land.’” Song of Songs 2:10-12, NIV
Listen or Read Below:
A born and raised Pennsylvanian, I’m used to the winters here. Wild. Unpredictable. Sometimes mild and tolerable. You never know one year from the next what you’re going to face. This past year’s winter, however, was the harshest I had experienced in quite a few years. I grew very weary of winter. When I finally started seeing the lawn, albeit brown, it was for two glorious days; and then the snow came again. It seemed like no sooner did the dirty, crusty snow melt, that a new storm was upon us.
And really, isn’t life just like that sometimes? We no sooner get through one crisis or trial and another one pops up. It’s like the Whac-A-Mole game of life; those random critters (trials) keep popping up unexpectedly and unwanted. It’s exhausting when we’re always waiting for the next bomb to drop, and then we’re left to deal, to keep pressing on, to figure out what’s next.
Or are we?
Is putting out the fires all around us our responsibility? Is it really our job to smash every trial that comes our way? James 1:2-4, NIV, has this to say: “Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”
I used to ask God, “Why?” But then someone advised me, “If you’re not getting an answer, ask a better question.” So, I did. Now I ask God, “What do You want to teach me through this?” It’s a question He always answers. Sometimes I’ll ask, “What do You want me to do next?” or “How can I glorify You in this situation?” Again, these are questions God loves to answer.
I can ask, “Why does it have to snow so much?” or “Why have the temperatures been so cold for so long?” and get nowhere. Or I can ask, “What can I do to bless God and others during this extreme winter season?” Now we’re talking. Now I can persevere in this physical winter season, with joy.
The same goes for the spiritual winter seasons we face. Spiritual seasons don’t often coincide with the physical season we’re in, but sometimes they do. No matter when our spiritual winter season comes or how long it lasts, we can be assured that it’s not, as Mr. Tumnus said in The Chronicles of Narnia, “Always winter, never spring.”
“See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland” (Isaiah 43:19). Even when we don’t know precisely what God is doing, we can rest assured He’s on the move. Even when I can’t see the grass beneath the snow, I know it’s there. All is not hopeless; spring will come again. Physically and spiritually.
Hebrews 6:19 reassures us, “We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure” (NIV). One day, I’ll see the tiny crocuses sprouting through the winter-weary ground. Next will come the vibrant yellow daffodils. I’ll plant my mammoth sunflowers, faithfully water them, and watch in anticipation for the sprouts to spring forth.
Here’s the thing: every season is essential for life and growth. That’s true of the physical and the spiritual. We need winter every bit as much as summer. Winter will come, but so will seasons of planting, growth, abundance, and harvest.
Let’s Pray:
Dear Heavenly Father,
We thank You for Your wisdom in creating the seasons, for You truly do all things well. In every season, may we seek Your direction, Your guidance, and Your will. “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens” (Ecclesiastes 3:1).
May our hearts hold on to hope in You as we traverse the harsh, winter seasons of the soul, knowing that they won’t last forever. May our thoughts ring loud with truth, and our lips praise Your holy name.
With gratitude, we pray in Jesus’ name, Amen.
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Photo Credit: ©Getty Images/alexmak72427
Tammy Darling is the author of 1,600 published articles and three books. She writes from her home in rural Pennsylvania.
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