The hand of the LORD was upon me, and he brought me out in the Spirit of the LORD and set me down in the middle of the valley; it was full of bones. And he led me around among them, and behold, there were very many on the surface of the valley, and behold, they were very dry. And he said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” And I answered, “O Lord GOD, you know.”

Ezekiel 37:1-4

When we think of the seasons of life, spring brings hope for what will be, summer is the actualization of putting plans to work, autumn is a time of harvest and then there is winter. The idea of winter is less than appealing and we don’t generally look forward to the cold. In many of the places we live, winter is a time when the trees are barren, the days are short and everything appears to be dead, or at least in hibernation.

You may be living through a time that feels like winter. You might relate to the vision Ezekiel had of a valley of dry bones, I am also reminded of the line from C.S. Lewis’ “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe” – “always winter but never Christmas.” The novel uses that line to express the sense of hopelessness experienced by the characters that inhabited Narnia.

But, in Ezekiel 37, God brings those bones to life and breathes the breath of life, promising an awakening and restoration of a people without hope. In Narnia, winter does begin to break thanks to the heroic actions of Aslan.

We all live for a story of hope and for those of us who believe, we know this – God never changes. The writer of Hebrews reminds us that “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever” (Hebrews 13:8).

Finally, let’s remember how the seasons work in the natural world around us. Winter may appear barren and cold, but because of the winter we are able to anticipate the new life that comes with Spring.