It can be hard to believe we’ll ever be back to normal life, can’t it?

We’ve lived so long in this pandemic-induced limbo that sometimes it doesn’t seem plausible that our regular lives will ever resume. It can seem like this state of suspended animation will drag on and on and leave our usual way of life just out of reach.

We might hear of other countries where day-to-day life is approaching normalcy, but this almost seems like a rumour intended to taunt us.

It can feel the same way in the bitter depths of winter, too. We get so accustomed to the frigid temperatures, bare trees and snow-covered landscapes that it’s hard to believe there’s such a thing as summer.

This feeling of incredulity reminds me of a quotation from John Crowley’s fantasy novel, “Little, Big”:

“Love is a myth,” Grandfather Trout said. “Like summer.”

“What?”

“In winter,” Grandfather Trout said, “summer is a myth. A report, a rumour. Not to be believed in. Get it? Love is a myth. So is summer.”

This passage speaks of romantic love, but I think this quotation applies equally well to the way God sometimes works in our lives.

In “winter” seasons of our lives, when things aren’t going well for us, it seems like the status quo will drag on and on. We’re skeptical that anything could ever change. The idea that things will someday turn around for us seems like a cruel rumour, something it’s not safe to believe in.

But as we know, love, like summer, is not a myth or a rumour.

Neither is God’s goodness.

Just as summer surely follows winter, God’s beneficence and favour follow seasons of trials and difficulties. He knows that we’re weak and fragile beings, and would be crushed in spirit if we felt there was no hope of better days ahead. God said:

“I live in a high and holy place, but also with the one who is contrite and lowly in spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite. I will not accuse them forever, nor will I always be angry, for then they would faint away because of me–the very people I have created.” (Isaiah 57:15-16)

Sometimes, just when you think change in your life is impossible, God may show up unexpectedly. He might demonstrate His love for you in a more tangible way. He may suddenly deliver you from a difficult situation, or change your life dramatically when you thought a turnaround was unimaginable.

The difference is like night and day. Or like winter and summer.

We see endless examples of this in the Scriptures:

Joseph is suddenly sprung from prison to become prime minister of Egypt. (Genesis 41:14, 41)

A man blind from birth is all of a sudden able to see his parents for the first time. (John 9:6-7)

A person paralyzed for decades is immediately able to leap for joy and carry home the bed he’d been lying on. (Luke 5:18-28)

A woman debilitated by a long-standing hemorrhagic condition is instantly healed. (Luke 8:43-44)

One touch on your life from Jesus can catapult you into a turnaround season. It seems unlikely, unbelievable, like far-fetched speculation.

Like a rumour.

But believe it.

Because rumour has it that Jesus loves you!

“I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living.”

Psalm 27:13

© 2021 Lori J. Cartmell. All rights reserved.