I heard once that as soon as they finish painting the Golden Gate Bridge, it’s time to repaint again. Well, that’s how shoveling the driveway has been lately. So faced with yet another snow day, I needed to run into work and my son was along for the ride. We were greeted with an unplowed driveway (or possibly one that was shoveled 10 minutes ago; it’s hard to say) and since he had left his boots at school, he was clad only in tennis shoes. As I am not in the habit of leaving my winter gear at various places (seriously, every time I walk by the lost & found at school, I need a laundry basket to haul it all home), I laced up boots for the blizzard and he did not. Alas, being the great parent that I am, I said, “I will walk to the door in my tall boots and you follow in my footsteps, since the snow is literally up to your knees . . . which is why we have boots.” Anyway, who can bother to remember appropriate foot wear? (Not him!)

I was equipped to handle the weather. I had donned all my armor, so to speak: coat, hat, gloves, (clears throat) boots. I had checked the weather report and saw blizzard and got out the big guns—my Russian princess coat, the gloves you can’t even bend your fingers in and a hat, complete with the ball thingy on the end (that means you are serious, by the way). I was ready to go. I’m one of those weirdoes, who kind of likes winter, but fully know part of the reason is that I’m well prepared for it. I have good gear, so I don’t feel the icy chill one would, say, without a coat and boots.

I do believe it’s a fairly common phenomenon for children to not want to wear their coats and hats. In fact, in my house it’s almost a daily argument.

Me in a bewildered tone: “You need a coat; it’s 12 degrees out there.”

Said child: “But if anything, I’m too hot right now.”

Me (still bewildered): “Yes, well, you are inside where it is heated, but you are about to enter the tundra where the wind chill is like 8 degrees. I promise, you will want a coat.”

With no faith and under threat of duress, said child, dons his coat as if he is doing me a favor! Then 20 minutes later wants to come in because . . . wait for it . . . he is cold.

Children and so many of us tend to live in the moment, don’t we? Everything is fine now; I’m warm and don’t need any more layers. The Bible tells us . . . In this world, you will have trouble (John 16:33). . . We are warned over and over again that we need to be ready for battle. Our enemy, Satan, has a blizzard planned. We know it’s coming because we can check the forecast (the prophetic Word of God) Yup, 100% chance of warfare; wear your winter coat. Parents, teachers and reasonable adults can look outside and see snow and logically say, you will need your boots. God has also “looked” outside and knows that storms are coming.

Our All-Knowing God, like any good parent wants his children to do well in the elements and, say, not lose a finger to frostbite. So, he gave us some gear to put on. It’s called the armor of God. You can read all about this armor in the book of Ephesian (chapter 6) and there are many good studies that focus on this crucial teaching of the Bible. I have done several, but one of my favorites is by Pricilla Shrier, called the Armor of God. I highly recommend it.

When you get ready to go out in the world put on your:

Belt of Truth

Breastplate of Righteousness

Shoes of the Gospel of Peace

Helmet of Salvation

Sword of the Spirit

Shield of Faith

We, in our ignorance or immaturity, don’t always think we need these things. We are comfortable and from our point of view, we can’t see any warfare. But God, our loving Father, says to put it on daily. We don’t always like to listen. It takes time after all to zip up a coat and dig a hat out of the bin. We need to study the armor so we understand it, take the time to pray about it, build our faith and trust in Him. It is far easier to just walk outside. But like a kid, we will only last about 20 minutes before we feel like we are going to lose a toe and want to come back inside. Winter is a hard season, in many ways; I believe it can be a picture of life’s struggles and hardships. Our spiritual life has cycles, just like the seasons of the year - the cold, dormant winter moving into the the spring and the renewal of life.

Winter (physically and spiritually) can be depressing. I think of the part from The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, where the witch made it always winter and never Christmas. Wouldn’t the enemy just love to overwhelm us in our winter seasons. We feel cold, isolated, shut off from the sun (the Son). Yet, God gave us winters in our lives for a purpose, each unique in its lesson. Perhaps you are feeling lonely or you would give anything for some alone time. Perhaps you have been battling health issues and feel as if you have more questions than answers. Or a friendship you counted on has unexpectedly froze. An exciting business venture seems stuck or yet another promotion passed you by. Whatever the “winter” is you are dealing with, God knew it was coming. And while we would much rather he had rerouted the storm, it still hits. Sometimes one after another.

The good news, though, is that you have a loving Parent who knew it would be cold outside. He bought you some winter gear and laid it out by your door. He won’t wrestle you into it, but it is there for the taking. We will feel the chill of this fallen and broken world, and yet, the Lord knew this and prepared a coat to keep you warm during this season of life. It’s so much better with our armor intact. We have a loving Savior who has walked ahead of us. Jesus arrived fully human (as well as fully God), so He knows what it’s like to walk knee-deep in struggles. He left His footprints for us to follow in when we bring shoes (instead of boots) to a snowstorm. His steps lead us to know the Word, to be in communion with our Lord and Savior through prayer and to be in community with other believers. Have you ever been surprised by a neighbor snow blowing your driveway? What an unexpected blessing! In turn, who can we bless even in the midst of our own blizzards? Maybe you can babysit for an overwhelmed mother, invite a lonely co-worker to coffee, offer prayer (and cookies) to a hurting friend, teach a new Christian about the armor of God, or shovel someone’s driveway (more than once in a day?).

What is God doing in this winter of your life?

What lessons?

What calling do we have even during the blizzards?

Look for God’s footprints in the snow (and wear your coat!)