Bleak Late Winter Blues

The Long Winter Wait

I ran into a neighbor at the grocery store. We stood amongst the canned pineapple and soup for 10 minutes just chatting. Not about anything of importance, just saying “hello”. There is a lot of socialization that happens that way in the winter.

When winter first arrived here, it was between All Saints Day and Thanksgiving. It was just a teaser and that childhood thrill of the first snow lightened my mood a bit. Then after Thanksgiving, we had Chanukah, Christmas and New Years. By the time January 1st arrived, we were all done with winter. We only had 4 months to go.

Winter becomes lonely. Feels somewhat imprisoning. We don’t see our neighbors. Often, we don’t see our friends, except our work friends because no one wants to venture out on cold winter nights. We are waiting for March or April when the first glorious days of spring arrive.

Then today, the sermon was on 2nd Timothy chapter 3. That meant when I came home, I wanted to re-read the entire book. I do that from time to time. And something really struck me!

Paul/Shaul was waiting. He had been waiting a long time for his execution. He was imprisoned for Messiah. His days must have seemed one like the other, over and over and over again. Many of those he shared the Good News with or ministered with had deserted him.

2Timothy1:15 You know that everyone in the province of Asia has turned away from me, including Phygelus and Ermogenes. We learn that Demas, who he referred to also in Colossians 4:14 and Philemon 1:24 had turned away from “The Way”

He was alone. He was alone with his thoughts, his remembrances, his Lord and then some encouragement to Timothy. So strongly worded that it made me think, “Where is Paul’s head? In 2Timothy2:11 he begins:

Here is a statement you can trust:

If we have died with him,
 we will also live with him.

If we persevere,
  we will also rule with him

If we disown him,
  he will also disown us.

If we are faithless,
 he remains faithful,
 for he cannot disown himself.

He is so getting ready for his execution. He is looking ahead, to the life that comes “after”. He is focused on what will be, not the dire circumstances he now endures.

We are reminded how he “walks the walk”, how he trusts that Adonai is always with him.

I tried to find an exact number of times we are told in scripture that the Lord will always be with us and never forsake us. I couldn’t find an exact number, but I was able to find over 100 verses.

There are times when God turns his back too. If we stop listening to the truth, (2Timothy4:4). We are reminded that the closer we get to the Last Day, many will have the “outer form” of religion, but deny its power.

Friends, I have experienced Adonai’s changing power in my life, and in the life of many of my friends. I mess up daily, but then I repent (when I realize what I did) and try to do better. We are all sinners. We all fall short of what we should do as servants of the One True God, but Yeshua’s blood. That blood, has washed us clean. If we truly trust in that, we will not be forsaken. He won’t forsake us during icy cold winter nights. He won’t forsake us in blazing desert days. He won’t forsake us when we are dying of cancer. He won’t forsake us when we grieve the loss of a child, a parent, a job, a spouse. He won't forsake us if our human nature takes over and we get into meaningless "Word battles" (2Timothy2:14) Yeshua is with us. He walks before us. He will see us through ANY trial. We may not know why. We may never get answers. As difficult as it is for us to acceept when we don't know why. (Human nature again). We need to trust as Paul did. I had the qualifier "Just" before "trust". I removed it. Trusting in the midst of our long winter is not easy. However, eventually spring will come and if for some of us, it doesn’t, we get something better. We get Yeshua.