The Changing of the Seasons

I stood in the living room, staring straight ahead at the bricks framing our fireplace. “How have I never seen this before?” I wondered. Here, in plain sight, a small circle of light, no bigger than a dime, filled to overflowing with the colors of the rainbow. Somehow, a ray of early morning light had slipped through the peep hole in our front door, its refractive beauty showcased for all to see. Only, I hadn’t seen it until now.

I called to my husband who was in the kitchen pouring himself a cup of coffee.

“Honey, come quick! You’ve got to see this!”

“See what?” he answered back. “Oh,” he said, as he saw where I was standing, “the rainbow of color above the fireplace?”

Not sure which was more astonishing . . . the fact that I had never seen this, or the fact that my love had and hadn’t bothered to mention it, I nodded in total bewilderment.

“You’ve seen this before?” I asked.

“Sure. Haven’t you?” he questioned, now sporting a look of bewilderment himself.

“No. I haven’t. Please don’t tell me it’s there every single morning.”

“No, don’t feel too bad. This only happens this time of year, when the sun is farther to the south.”

Of course, I understood it now. The orbit around the sun, the tilt of the earth, the exact placement of our front door and the curvature of the small piece of glass in our peep hole — all in sync, allowing what until now hadn’t been seen by me, to be seen.

“In the beginning the Word already existed. The Word gave life to everything that was created, and His life brought light to everyone . . . The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it.” {John 1:1,4-5, NLT}

As I stood there looking at the vivid color and unmistakable beauty against the brown of the brick, I thought back to Decembers past. December 19, 2004 — my birthday and the night my father passed away. December 23, 2004 – the day of my father’s funeral. December 17, 2013 – the day my precious friend, Ruthie, ended her courageous fight with cancer. Three days later, December 20, 2013 — the day my precious little canine companion, Sally, passed away.

I remembered the way darkness tried to consume my heart, to bury every single bit of joy, to extinguish the light of God’s love burning in my heart. How I would look for God in it all and not be able to catch a glimpse of Him anywhere in the midst of my sorrow for a day, or a month, or a few months. And then, when I least expected it, the light was there, showcasing the colors of God’s faithfulness once again. I would see it shining in the most unlikely places and in the most amazing ways – in the hug of a friend, a deeply tucked away memory, a verse leaping off the page, a word of promise tucked into a weekend sermon.

I began to understand that sometimes, it simply takes us aligning our heart with the light of His love to see the beauty of God against the bleak, brown places of our life. And, sometimes — sometimes, it takes the light of His love shining through the refraction of our tears for us to see His unfailing presence more clearly.

No matter the season of life, this truth remains: The world can never extinguish the Light. Even when we can’t see it, or feel the warmth it brings, it is still there. Even when we wonder, “Why, God, why?” or we wrestle with “Lord, how could You?” or “Lord, why didn’t You?”

God is still there.

“So,” I asked my husband, “how many years have you seen this?”

“Every year we’ve lived here. When winter rolls around I start looking for it and it always appears.”

As I stood in my living room, I realized I had seen more than a simple phenomenon of light; I had seen The Light. The Light who is faithful to be there with the changing of the seasons.

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Related: This stunning candle holder is sure to bring an exquisite touch of inspiration and beauty to your home and is a wonderful reminder to let the light of Jesus shine through you!