It’s February! February is my least favorite month. To me, February is just a dismal cold month. The only good thing that I can say about February is that it is short. Oh, I forgot, my wife Linda was born in February. What a great month! I suppose that I should be talking about Valentine’s Day and love. All the other pastor’s are probably doing that, so let’s be different!
I was stationed in Myrtle Beach, with the Air Force, for 9 ½ years. Somebody had to do it. I couldn’t leave and force some other person to go there. I sacrificed myself to protect others from having to go to Myrtle Beach. Talk about sacrificial love! My willingness to sacrifice myself for others makes me the pastor that I am.
Anyway, the first week in February seemed to always be the coldest week of the year in Myrtle Beach. This was especially true when the cold wet winds would blow in from the ocean. One year, during that week, an airman, new to the base, commented about the cold. I replied, “March 1st starts tourist season and the beaches will be full.” He said, “You’re crazy; it won’t be warm enough by then.” I said, “March 1st kicks off CanAm Days and all the Canadians flock to Myrtle beach. Compared to Canada, our weather and water is warm. You see, in Myrtle Beach we don’t watch the groundhog and its shadow to see if it will be a long winter. We watch the Canadians go in the water and if they turn blue, it will be a long winter.”
It’s February and things may be cold and dismal to you. But March 1st is CanAm Days! What I am saying is this, you may be in the cold and dismal February of your life; but you do not know what things will be like in March or July. The cold and dismal February may be just a distant memory. So, don’t give up because the February of your life seems hopeless. It won’t always be February in your life.
God offers us the strength and support to get through the Februarys of our lives and he offers us the hope of a new spring. Never give up because it is February, because God never gives up on you. God has faith in you, have faith in him.
The Greek word for faith in the Bible is pistis. It really means that you are unchanging and not blown about by every wind or fad. You are persistent, just as God is persistent in seeking a closer relationship with us. Basically, it means that you believe in something, God, and you never give up on that belief, no matter what is happening in your life. You persist in your belief no matter how dismal your February gets.
God is faithful to you. He never gives up on you. No matter how much you turn from him, he persists in seeking to be in a close relationship with you. God never gives up on you. Be faithful and never give up on God. You never know, tomorrow could be spring.
