Lent is a season of reflection for Christians as we prepare our hearts and minds to celebrate the resurrection of Christ on Easter Sunday. For me, reflecting on Christ’s life, love, and ultimate sacrifice causes me to look at the ever-changing seasons of nature around me. My heart can sometimes feel heavy when the Christmas festivities are over, and the weather remains cold and dreary. When I see empty fields, leafless trees, and empty gardens; I look to God for peace and comfort. It is in these moments that God speaks so clearly: “I am still working in you and through you. Even though you may not feel or see it, my Spirit is still working in your life and in those around you.”
One of my favorite songs is Every Season by Nichole Nordeman. The song relates the seasons of nature to the seasons we go through in our relationship with Christ. Though our life and faith may go through many ups and downs, God is faithful in sustaining us and carrying us through each moment. One of the verses of Nordeman’s song expresses how God is still at work in seasons of winter, even when life cannot be seen:
And everything in time and under Heaven finally falls asleep.
Wrapped in blankets white, all creation shivers underneath.
And still, I notice You when branches crack,
And in my breath on frosted glass.
Even now in death, You open doors for life to enter – You are winter.
When spring arrives, we can see all along how God carried us through the dark winter, giving birth to new life. The final verse of Every Season helps us see the eruption of new life in spring as a reminder of God’s faithfulness to us and His desire to renew us:
And everything that’s new has bravely surfaced, teaching us to breathe,
And what was frozen through is newly purposed, turning all things green.
So it is with You, and how You make me new, with every season’s change.
And so it will be as You are re-creating me: Summer, autumn, winter, spring.
It is so beautiful to me that we celebrate Easter as spring arrives. After our reflective season of Lent, we celebrate Christ’s victory over death as new life emerges all around us in nature, praising God alongside His people.
Let the heavens be glad, and the earth rejoice! Let the sea and everything in it shout his praise! Let the fields and their crops burst out with joy! Let the trees of the forest sing for joy before the Lord, for he is coming! – Psalm 96:11 – 13a
Dr. Hayden Coie, Music and Worship Associate
