Winter is long, gray, and cold. This year the winter of the north seems to have extended itself to some degree or the other throughout much of the country with the exception of maybe Alaska.

The weather creates a deep longing in me for warmth. I want to go outside. I want to see green, living things outside. I want the sun to shine and to feel the heat of its rays.

Sometimes what we long for is only realized after the trial – after the winter. God told Moses that he would know He had sent him after the people were delivered.

Exodus 3:12 And God said “I will be with you. And this will be the Sign to you that it is I who have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt you will worship God on this mountain.”

If I were Moses I would have wanted a little more reassurance during the process. But the promise was after. God did talk to Moses in the process, but the reassurance that it would work out, that it was indeed God who sent him, was not given until they worshipped at the mountain after deliverance.

God walks with us through the winter months of life. In fact the winters helps us to choose our worship and attitudes. We can complain through the hardship, the trial, the cold, the wind, the snow or we can choose joy, contentment, to learn, to grow. Winter helps me to worship with my mind and my soul regardless of my emotions.

Emotions worship when the sun shines, the birds sing, and I’m warm. My mind and soul must choose to overcome emotions and worship when life is not as I want it, not as I thought it would be.

So, the snow is still falling, the highs may still be near zero, and the clouds are still hovering in the sky, but like Paul sitting in a dark, dirty, cold, miserable jail cell we too can say “Rejoice in the Lord always, I will say it again – rejoice.” (Philippians 4:4)