Every year, as the noise of Christmas and New Year’s comes to an end, winter blows in and makes herself known. For some, January is a welcome reprieve, a chance to slow down after all the busyness of December. Winter is a time to come inside, retreat, rest, and embrace seasons of solitude.
This is what we see nature do, after all. We learned in school about bears hibernating. They gather food in the fall, so that they can survive the winter months of retreat. We also learned about birds migrating, insects burrowing into the ground, and trees shedding their leaves.
Lately, we’ve had ladybugs in our house. Not a bunch, just one lone ladybug at a time. We’ll see a ladybug in the living room, then the next day we’ll see one in the kitchen. Usually our dog is the one that sees it first, so I scoop the ladybug up before the dog attacks the poor creature. And when I say, “I wonder why we keep seeing ladybugs in our house?” my seven-year-old says, “They’re sheltering.” Yes, of course, they want to come in from the cold.
Embracing the Season
What about you and me? Today, we have the technology that means we don’t have to slow down in the winter time. We have electricity and light for the shorter days and longer nights, cars so we don’t have to face the cold wind while walking, computers and phones so we can continue working even if we are home. It has not always been this way, and there are still places in the world where people must change their habits and activities with the seasons. It’s just too cold and too dark for them to spend long periods of time outside.
Wherever you live, you will probably spend more time indoors during the winter season than you would during spring, summer, or fall. Because of this, the lack of sunshine and vitamin D can lead to Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) or the Winter Blues. Also, as we spend more time in our homes, there is less connection, and we inevitably feel more lonely.
What Arctic communities know…
However, this is not true in all parts of the world. You would expect in places where it’s extremely cold and the sun doesn’t show itself for weeks or months, that SAD would be higher there. Researcher Keri Leibowitz spent time moving around and researching these communities and found that it’s the opposite. It’s because these “polar night” communities choose to embrace the winter by seeing the beauty that it offers—the magic of the scenery and the joy of gathering in warm homes. They make simple swaps, like using the soft light of candles and warm fires instead of the harsh overhead light. They choose not to fight against nature—they enjoy the retreat and the coziness of the season.
In the NPR article “People in colder countries understand the magic of winter. What’s their secret?” Leibowitz says: “If you look at every living thing on Earth, plant or animal, they are all changing their behavior in winter in some way. They’re migrating or hibernating, shedding their leaves, storing up their energy for spring. Our modern societies and conveniences have convinced us that it’s a personal or moral failure if we want to slow down in the winter.”
Could winter be for our own benefit?
As I think about retreating and resting in the winter, I think of a couple of different passages in the Bible. The first one comes from the famous Ecclesiastes chapter about a time for everything and the second one is from Psalm one.
“There is an occasion for everything,
and a time for every activity under heaven:
a time to give birth and a time to die;
a time to plant and a time to uproot;
a time to kill and a time to heal;
a time to tear down and a time to build”
(Ecclesiastes 3:1-3 CSB)
How happy is the one who does not
walk in the advice of the wicked
or stand in the pathway with sinners
or sit in the company of mockers!
Instead, his delight is in the Lord’s instruction,
and he meditates on it day and night.
He is like a tree planted beside flowing streams
that bears its fruit in its season,
and its leaf does not wither.
Whatever he does prospers.
(Psalm 1:1-3 CSB)
There is a time for rest, and there is a time for doing; a time for going out and a time for staying in. In its natural environment created by God, an apple tree does not produce fruit year round. It bears apples then it loses the fruit and leaves, and then it has a period of rest. After a season of rest, then there is production. As humans, we cannot escape the natural order of things, though we may try. We are not made to produce fruit in all seasons, but in the right season.
Winter Seasons of Life
It may not be an actual winter season that causes you to retreat, but there are seasons of life that thrust us into rest and solitude, where we find ourselves alone. It could be the birth of a child or the death of a family member; a new transition from full home to empty nest; the loss of a job; the loss of a friend; divorce; a new diagnosis; sick children; leaving your church and trying new ones. Sometimes even when it’s not cold outside, it can feel cold inside. We try to fight it, but instead how can we embrace the season of solitude and feel restored when it’s time to emerge?
I remember after having my third child, I particularly enjoyed this season of quiet. I had gotten used to having two preschool/elementary children in the house, but once they were off to school it was me and the baby, and much quieter. With some life transitions around that time, I had started to feel restless, stretched, and lonely. But ironically, the retreat to solitude with my baby didn’t make me feel more lonely. It actually helped me to feel rested, connected to God and myself, and ready to go out into the world with fresh, new purpose awakened.
Rest with Intention
What did I do? I opened my Bible and read God’s Word for the first time on my own. I listened to God, and I wrote back to God with my own thoughts and ideas about what His words meant. I felt connected to God in a way I never had. I felt like he was right there in my presence guiding me. Every day I craved being in the Word with Him.
And as so often happens, as knowledge of God increases, so does knowledge of self. I started paying attention to my desire to write. I leaned on God to help me through my weaknesses and asked for courage to use my strengths. I was prepared to go and do.
The same urge that pulled me in to retreat was now compelling me to move forward. While solitude is good for a while, we are not meant to stay there.
Jesus’s Own Season of Solitude
Jesus Himself had a season of solitude. The apostle Matthew writes, “Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry” (Matthew 4:1-2). After this time alone is when Jesus is tempted by Satan. There are three things we can learn here about our winter seasons, whether physical or spiritual:
1. We can’t control what our retreat will look like from the outside, but we can help what’s going on in our hearts.
One thing I notice about Jesus’ time in solitude is that there are not many words written about it. Actually, it’s just a couple of sentences about 40 whole days. We don’t know what Jesus did during that time, but I imagine there was a lot of talking to God in prayer. Jesus must have listened to God, allowing God to strengthen him, encourage him, and prepare him for what was coming. Though we’re not told what happened during those 40 days, that doesn’t mean it wasn’t valuable.
And the same goes for us. Your season of solitude may look useless, lazy, and anti-social on the surface, but what truly matters is what’s going on underneath. Are you being built up by the Lord? Are you spending time in prayer? Are you using this season of solitude to prepare you for what’s next? Will you be ready to emerge, hungry to fulfill your purpose?
2. Be ready for temptations.
Right after Jesus’ 40 days alone, He is tempted by the devil. Though he is physically hungry, spiritually he is prepared. He has what he needs—the word of God—to defeat Satan. He has the knowledge, the strength, and the courage to tackle a beast. I hope that we emerge from our solitude ready to face challenges too.
3. After rest, it’s time to work.
Another thing I want you to notice about this passage is this—after Jesus is tempted, then restored by the angels, he immediately goes out to work. Notice the headings in the NIV Bible right after Jesus successfully rebukes Satan:
“Jesus Begins to Preach,”
“Jesus Calls His First Disciples,”
“Jesus Heals the Sick.”
And in the beginning of chapter five, Jesus begins his famous “Sermon the Mount.” Jesus’ 40 days alone in the wilderness is just a sentence in our Bibles, but that time prepared him for what was coming—the trials and temptations, the giving and sacrificing, the leading and teaching. May your season of solitude also prepare you for living out your purpose; may it be an onramp to going out and living and loving.
On a side note, I didn’t start writing publicly until a couple of years after this season of retreat in my life. Again, it’s not about what people see, it’s about the transformation that’s taking place in your heart.
Metamorphosis
There is another example from nature that I haven’t shared yet. It’s the caterpillar. The oozy, gooey caterpillar lives life outside among the green leaves and bright colors of spring. Then it must wrap itself into a dark chrysalis (what we called a cocoon when I was in school), and it stays there for weeks. Here in the dark is where the transformation occurs. The caterpillar must retreat into solitude, its own personal winter, for it to become what God means for it to become.
It is in the dark where the caterpillar is broken down and transformed into something else. Something even more beautiful than before, a butterfly. And the new butterfly faces its first trial right away—it must get out of the chrysalis on its own. The struggle that it must face alone is what strengthens a butterfly’s wings so that it can go into the world as God intends—flying.
There is a purpose to our seasons of solitude. Whether it is just a few days, or stretches out to weeks or months, we can take this time to connect more with God and with ourselves. As we learn and grow in these quiet places, we can emerge ready to face challenges and to love our neighbors well.
I’d like to end with this encouragement from Jennifer Dukes Lee, from her book Growing Slow:
“Winter can feel pointless, empty, barren, and devoid of light. But what if there’s a gift here? We think that because it’s winter, nothing is happening in the fields. But that’s not true at all. There is so much that happens in the dark, even now, in places you can’t see. The land is alive, breathing, preparing itself for the season to come. The same is true for us.”
Further Reading
If you’d like to read more on this topic, here are some books you might like. I have not read them, but I wish I had time to!
- How to Winter: Harness Your Mindset to Thrive on Cold, Dark, or Difficult Days by Kari Leibowitz. This is a book about the actual winter season.
- Wintering: The Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times by Katherine May. This book is about difficult “winter” seasons of life.
- Growing Slow: Lessons on Un-Hurrying Your Heart from an Accidental Farm Girl by Jennifer Dukes Lee. This book is from a Christian perspective on living a more rooted and less hurried life, taking time to slow down when you need it.
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