Today is the day the clocks change so, if you haven’t yet reset yours, pause and go do it now. I always enjoy this change back to GMT because it means getting an extra hour in bed. The downside, of course, is that the sun sets an hour earlier and this day is a very real reminder that the darker days of winter lie ahead. I’m sure some of us are thinking that, if we could, we’d wave a magic wand and speed life on all the way to March.
But, if we could do that we’d miss out on so much and the world would too. The cycles of the world need the death, decay and darkness that come from Autumn and Winter in order that fresh growth and new life can emerge next Spring. Leap to March and we’d miss all of that. We need what comes in between.
It’s a bit like those churches that don’t have any services during Holy Week. When you meet for worship on Palm Sunday you focus on the triumphant entry of Jesus into Jerusalem. If your next service is Easter Sunday then you resume worship on Jesus’ triumphant resurrection. Moving from triumph to triumph is great but surely you can see that you can only truly appreciate what’s going on in the big picture when you hear of Jesus’ agonies, obedience and self-sacrifice in between. The story is not good news for us until we take in what goes on in the middle.
What about our lives? We want everything to be sweetness and light all the time. We don’t want any suffering or anything negative to befall us. Yet life is about the two coexisting together and the Bible is clear that we can gain and grow just as much from the dark times as from the good times – if not more. It reminds us that there are treasures to be mined from times of darkness and that ‘suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope’ (Romans 5:3-4). The key takeaway is that through good times AND BAD the constant presence of God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, never leaves us. Even when we make up an hour. Even when we lose an hour.
So, if you’re dreading the onset of Autumn and Winter or some personal winter that you’re experiencing, take a deep breath; remember that God is with you; and pray that God will sustain you, teach you, and help you to grow through the dark days until things change once again.
Prayer: Lord Jesus, On this day with its echoes of coming darkness, help me to remember that you are the light that goes on shining now and through all eternity. Thank you that, however dark my life may get, you are always with me. Amen.