The further north you get, the shorter the days are. You know that.

I’m in a suburb of Denver, and the sunset was at 4:38 pm today. My son lives in Corvallis, Oregon – about 300 miles further north. His sunset was a mere two minutes earlier than mine, but the damp fog there makes the outdoors seem even darker.

God created seasons. In the dark of winter, it’s sometimes hard to understand why. But I know that contrasts are good…

• To fully experience warmth, you have to feel like you’re freezing.
• Light, dark.
• Delicious, yucky.
• Beauty, ugliness.
• Desert, rainforest.

But when you’re in the middle of a seemingly endless dark winter, it’s hard to remember the long warm days of summer.

I am glad to be reminded of just a few great things about winter:

• God’s mighty power is shown in how much incredible energy it takes to freeze a lake (Job 37:10).
• God’s care for us is shown through the consistency of seasons (Genesis 8:22).
• Winter will pass (Song of Solomon 2:11).
• Fresh snow is beautiful – and a picture of how God washes away our sins (Psalm 51:7).
• Freezing kills some bugs.

So hang in there – spring is coming. We just have to wait a bit.

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Paul Merrill writes here every First Friday.