12/10/2025
When Winter Holds Both Ache and Hope
As much as the slowing down and getting cozy feels good, the winter season also brings a reminder we would rather ignore: life is temporary. The older we get, the more honest this truth becomes. We are not leaving this earth without feeling pain.
Without walking through suffering. Without loss. Without grief. Some carry heavier loads than others, but none of us are untouched. And with every new ache, something in us quietly whispers, I don’t want things to change. I don’t want to feel this.
These feelings catch us off guard. Why do we want to run from them? Why do we fear the waves of emotion that come with aging, shifting seasons, and the finality of knowing our days are numbered?
If we truly believe this earth is our temporary home, if we believe joy beyond imagination awaits us, and that we’ll see again the loved ones who trusted in the gospel of Jesus Christ, then why does the heaviness still sit on our chest?
And it’s no mistake that even though Jesus may not have been born in December, this month meets us with both a traditional winter season and a spiritual reminder. While the world grows still and cold, we are pointed toward the Hope of Christ, hope not rooted in this world, but in the One who entered it to save it. Hope that looks beyond what hurts today and lifts our eyes toward what’s promised forever.
So although sorrow, hardship, and loss will come our way, we don’t have to let them steal our joy in the middle of it. We can’t avoid these parts of life, but we can ask God to anchor us through them. If we know we’re going to walk through pain, and we will, then may God prepare our hearts and our minds before it comes.
Prepare us to trust Him. Prepare us to lean into His character more than our feelings. Prepare us to remember that He will make all things new and beautiful and good.
Some of that goodness we will taste here on earth. Some of it we won’t understand until the other side of heaven. Not everything will make sense right now, and maybe it’s not supposed to. But what God promises will stand: nothing is wasted, redemption is certain, and eternity holds the answers our hearts ache for today.
So remind us, God, that when it doesn’t make sense… it’s simply not going to make sense on this side of heaven. Give us the courage to trust You anyway, to rest in what we know of Your character when we cannot make sense of Your plans, and to hold onto hope even when clarity hasn’t come yet.
Why do we think God created the Church? Because what we hear from the pulpit, what we sing in worship, what we read in Scripture, none of it is accidental. These are the tools God gave us to anchor us in a world that will break our hearts.
Every sermon, every song, every verse is meant to steady us, strengthen us, remind us who He is, and help us find purpose in the middle of life’s imperfections and pain.
He knew we would face sorrow and loss. He knew we’d wrestle with questions we couldn’t answer. He knew we’d need community, truth, and hope whispered back to us when our own faith felt thin.
Sometimes our hearts feel heavy simply because we’re living in the anticipation of something we long for. Desire can weigh just as much as grief. Naming those feelings, nurturing them instead of burying them, and sharing them honestly with God is a good thing. He’s not intimidated by our longing. He invites it. He meets us in it. And He reminds us that hope doesn’t weaken us, hope prepares us.
We spend so much of our lives trying to protect ourselves from the unexpected, the unknown, and the uncertainties, because that’s where we feel the most vulnerable. But the more we try to control every outcome, the more we exhaust our souls. God never asked us to carry that kind of weight. He asked us to trust Him in the very places we fear the most.
Winter exposes what’s real. It strips away the noise. It reminds us that life is tender and short, and somehow, this makes love deeper, gratitude sharper, and presence more intentional.
Maybe the ache we feel isn’t a threat. Maybe it’s a holy reminder: we are passing through, but we are not alone.
God is with us in every season. And eternity is already written for those who believe.
🎄Maureen
