Tags
Related Posts
Share This
Winter Blues
It’s 7:30am; the wind is howling around outside and the central heating has just kicked in again… it’s cold outside; the sky is dark and foreboding and it’s drizzling; all of which leaves me thinking that I’ll probably stay indoors today.
As I sat there earlier this morning, looking out of the window, I felt a pang of depression come over me – the summers here in BC can be awesome, but the winters leave something to be desired. Then I caught myself and thought, ‘here I am in a nice warm house with food overflowing in the fridge and pantry, plenty to drink, clothes and blankets aplenty, electric, gas, hot water, etc.’
When I really think about it I don’t really have that much to get depressed about. Here in BC it’s easy to look out of the window at this time of year and lose sight of the fact that, although the weather outside is, to quote Bing Crosby “frightful”, it could be infinitely worse.
It’s easy to judge our lives by external things like the weather, what we don’t have, and our comfort levels. Maybe, instead of becoming depressed about what we don’t have, we should be thankful for what we do have. There’s always going to be more, someone with bigger and better, and Florida is sunny most of the time, but these things are not life. In fact, the Bible takes it one step further and says, “Do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? …your heavenly Father knows that you need them.” Matthew 6:25 & 32
So, instead of feeling depressed, I feel encouraged knowing that God has got my back. Scripture tells us again and again that as believers we don’t have to worry about a thing. So this Faithblog goes out to all those who are experiencing the winter blues and I leave you with the lyrics of the Bob Marley song Three Little Birds, “Don’t worry about a thing, ‘Cause every little thing gonna be all right.”
Christian St John M.Div, BChM, ACS
November, 2009
I spent 20 years of my life living in “sunny” South Florida where it barely got below 50°F. I’m a Northerner by birth and spent my earliest years in Michigan & Indiana. After all those years I got tired of the hot weather, lack of seasons, high cost of living and constant “vacation state of mind”, so I moved to North Georgia. I love it! There are days when a creepy fog rolls in that I absolutely love. BUUUUT, I will say that winter seems to hit me more here than it did in Florida. And I think I have started to realize that the winter blues do affect me. That and the screwy schedule that comes with the holidays. That being said, I do have to watch myself. The world is constantly at our doors making us feel that we do not have enough. More and more I start reflecting on the fact that so many believers around the world have horrible conditions, and probably better spirits. I think it is like eating junk food. It never satisfies. The more you eat, the more you want. The fatter you get, then the lazier you get and the more you want to eat. Sadly, I see this so much in my life as well as so many believers.
In a sermon I preached a couple of years ago I asked the congregation, “Are we eaters of the World or hearers of the Word?” My point was that the world’s teachings are like junk food and many people eat without questioning what’s actually in the teachings/food. Bottom line, if we are eat it then we may get fat , but it will not satisfy… and it’s probably not good for us. If instead we are hearers of the Word we may just think about what’s been said and act upon it. As always Robert, thanks and blessings
Yeah, the winter blues can really affect our state of mind. It definitely affects me. It’s been raining hard here in Vancouver for the past week, just dumping out of the sky to the point that ducks could swim on our lawns. But a couple of nights ago, I felt that I needed to pray that God would hold back the rain for a couple of days, just give us a glimpse of sunshine. My reasoning: that for some people it’s too much, they start to become very badly depressed and unable to cope without some light. We were supposed to get more solid rain for the next week, but the morning after I prayed, I woke up to sunshine streaming in my windows. It wasn’t a lot, but it was enough. Nobody had expected or predicted it.
Again, today it’s slightly sunny, just enough to catch our breath. The rains will probably resume over the next week, because after all we do live in a rain forest, but what made me feel great wasn’t so much that the sun had come out, it was just that God hears our cry and cares about something as simple as the weather and how it affects us. That’s better than all the sunshine in the world.
I was able to tell somebody in one of the shops I go to about what I had prayed. She said, “right on!” And I don’t think this person is a believer.
Most people would just laugh at my story – tell me it’s a coincidence – but these kinds of answers to prayer have happened over and over, sometimes miraculously. (My Children call me “She Who Controls the Weather!) But seriously, I believe God cares about these details, so occasionally, when prompted, I do pray and I believe He answers.
Ruth… God absolutely answers prayer. Some people have a hard time with this. A friend of mine, who claims to be a believer, recently watched the movie Faith Like Potatoes and couldn’t believe God answers prayer as the movie portrays. The movie was based on a true story, but my friend didn’t believe that it was true, just a lot of coincidences. Shame that we limit God so.
Wha? I didn’t hear what you said, I was eating some junk food.
I’ll add to that, that there is a lot of junk food in the church as well.
Robert… Oh yeah, there’s tons of junk food in the church. It would make for an interesting book don’t you think? (Writes the idea down in his little notepad)
Good going Ruth!
Chris, a cook book maybe?