I've been thinking a lot about seasons lately. Not just the ones on our calendar, but the ones that mark our lives in ways we didn't ask for and didn't see coming. Maybe you're in one of those seasons right now. The kind where every day feels like you're walking sideways, where the cold hits harder than it should, and where you're asking questions you never thought you'd have to ask.

The greatest miracle in human history didn't begin on a throne. It didn't come with applause or fanfare or a military parade from heaven. The greatest miracle the world has ever known began in a manger, a humble feeding spot for animals. That's where the King of Kings and Lord of Lords made His entrance. But before there was a manger, there was a season.

Between the end of the Old Testament and the beginning of the New, there were 400 years of silence. Four hundred years where God's people didn't hear from Him through prophets. They had to hold onto the last thing He said and trust that He hadn't forgotten them. Silent night after silent night, they waited. And then, in God's perfect timing, the angels broke that silence with a heavenly proclamation that filled the sky.

Understanding the Seasons We Walk Through

The Hebrew word for season is "zeman," and it means an appointed, purposeful window of time. It's not rushed, it's not random, and it's not wasted. Even when we can't see what God is doing, He's working with intention. As Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 reminds us: "There is a time for everything and a season for every activity under the heavens: a time to be born 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, a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance."

You're in a season right now. Maybe it's a planting season, maybe it's an uprooting season. Maybe you're in the tearing down or the building up. Whatever season you're walking through, I want you to know that God has purpose for it.

When the Winter Hits Hard

I've been through some winters. I'm not just talking about the weather, though I'll never forget preaching in Chicago when it was one degree outside and my lip literally burst from the cold. I'm talking about the winters of our lives, the ones that punch you in the face when you're not expecting it.

About 16 years ago, when Pastor Amy and I became senior pastors of this church, I went through a season where I was dizzy for almost two months. I couldn't think clearly, couldn't formulate sentences, and couldn't figure out what was wrong. Then there was the time my voice disappeared for two months. As a preacher, you can imagine how that felt. This past June, I hurt my back and ended up with two herniated discs, neuropathy, and nerve damage. I went from being athletic my whole life to lying in bed for three months.

In those moments, I found myself asking the same question we all ask: "Why? Why is this happening? Why now? Why me?"

But here's what I've learned: when we're stuck on "why," we're asking the wrong question. "Why" is the word toddlers use when they don't understand. It's fine to ask why, but if we're not careful, it stops being a question and becomes an accusation. We turn the Shepherd into the suspect.

Instead, we need to shift from "why" to "who." Who do You want me to become in this season, God? Who do You want to be to me right now? How are You going to show Your faithfulness? What are You trying to accomplish in me?

Three Truths About Every Season

Let me share three things about seasons that I believe will help you navigate whatever you're facing right now.

1. Seasons Prepare You for Something

That long season of silence before Jesus came wasn't punishment. It was preparation. God was preparing the world for a Savior. And I believe God's silence in your life right now isn't punishment either. He's preparing you for something.

If you're in a season of silence, just remember and obey the last thing God told you to do. Keep showing up. Keep being faithful. Keep believing. Keep reading your Bible. Keep praying. Keep worshiping. Keep giving. Keep doing the right thing. Keep choosing forgiveness. Keep living in peace.

Scientifically, winter is very misunderstood. We think everything is dying, but that's not what happens at all. Growth doesn't stop, it shifts. Root systems deepen during winter. Life in the soil increases. Organic matter breaks down into nutrients for future growth. Even snow, that bitter cold thing that feels like it's fighting you, actually acts as insulation, protecting what hasn't emerged from the ground yet.

The thing you feel is fighting you might actually be protecting you. It's protecting what God is doing underneath the surface, in the places no one can see. Nothing looks alive during a winter season, but winter isn't death. It's development. God is cultivating something under the surface, preparing miracles that will emerge in their proper time.

2. Seasons Prune Something from You

John 15:2 says this: "Every branch in me that does not bear fruit, he takes away; and every branch that does bear fruit, he prunes, that it may bear more fruit."

Here's what I see in that verse: if you don't bear fruit, God will cut you off. But if you do bear fruit, He's going to cut on you so you can grow even more. Either way, you're going to get cut. The question is: do you want to get cut off or cut on?

I'd rather have the Lord cut on me so I can grow in the direction He's called me to grow than get cut off because I'm not bearing fruit. So you might be in a pruning season right now, feeling cut from every direction, not understanding why this is happening. That could actually be a good thing.

Pruning isn't about dead things. It's about good things that might be growing in the wrong direction, at the wrong pace, or at the wrong cost. There's only a certain amount of energy in one plant, and if something is growing in an unhealthy direction, it can hinder the growth of other areas. The master gardener prunes it back so it grows properly.

So many people look at their money and say, "I'm making more money than ever. I'm growing!" But growth alone isn't indicative of God's favor. You have to make sure you're growing in the direction He's called you to grow. Pruning prevents self-sabotage and creates structure. Without pruning, growth becomes chaotic. With pruning, growth becomes intentional.

Pruning hurts because sometimes it doesn't make sense to our logic. You're not always losing bad things. Most of the time, you're losing familiar things, and we feel it's bad because it's so familiar to us. But you might just be in a season. You don't have to curse it or get mad at it. You just have to make it through it.

Even the incarnation of Jesus involved pruning. Think about it: the Creator of heaven and earth, the One who made everything we see, chose to be born in a manger. He traded His glory to become a baby. He traded the ivory palaces and thrones of heaven for a wooden trough. Jesus experienced pruning so we could experience the miracle on the other side.

Leaving winter early means missing resurrection later. Don't try to get out of the season you're in. Live through that season. Remain in Jesus.

3. God Wants to Prove Something Through You

God didn't just send Jesus to avoid suffering. He sent Him to reveal something through His suffering. The incarnation proved that God doesn't observe humanity from a distance. He steps into your brokenness.

Remember when the devil was standing before God, and God said, "Have you considered my servant Job?" God made the suggestion about Job to the enemy. Why? Because God knew He could trust Job, and He knew Job would overcome anything the enemy threw at him. Through Job's testimony of overcoming, lives would be changed and God would be glorified.

We sing songs about God using us, but we get upset when He starts putting us through things. How do you think He's going to use you? He's going to put you through things and bring you through things so your life can be a testimony to someone else who has been through or is going through that same thing. That's how He proves His faithfulness through you.

A Testimony of God's Faithfulness

Last year at a pastor's convention, I ran into someone I hadn't seen in a long time. I started telling him about when our son Jude had stage four cancer. As I shared, I got unexpectedly emotional and told him, "I was really let down in some areas of my life. I thought I was stronger than I was. But there were other areas where I didn't think I was very strong, and I was a lot stronger than I thought. God showed me I was more than I thought I was in some areas and less in others, but in all those areas, He compensated and we got through it."

Suddenly, this pastor started crying. He said, "I want to tell you something I haven't told anyone. No one knows this, not even my family. But I know God is using you right now. I have stage four cancer, and I haven't known how to tell anyone. My faith is strong right now. Would you pray for me?"

I prayed for him right there. Over the past year, he's been texting me through all his treatments. Just yesterday, he sent me a series of texts saying he had his final scans and there's not a trace that he ever had the disease. He's completely and totally healed.

God used the worst season of my entire life to bring hope and encouragement to someone else. I didn't cause the healing, only God can do that through faith, but God used my season. He used my story. And He's going to use yours too.

Embracing Your Season

Whatever season you're in right now, even the one you don't understand, God is going to use it to bless somebody else. This whole Christmas season, I want you to see that if you're in a tough season as you're going into the holidays, you can frame it in a way that allows you to see God working through you.

You don't have to walk through this season bitter. God is preparing you to receive. He's pruning you so you can remain in Him. And He's proving His faithfulness and goodness to others through your testimony.

True glory doesn't need volume. It doesn't need fanfare. It doesn't need a palace. God produced a Messiah from a manger. And in your season, no matter how humble or hard it feels, God is producing something miraculous that will point others to Him.

Remember: seasons have beginnings and they have ends. We cannot always choose our circumstances, but we can absolutely choose how we respond. God enters into the seasons we want to skip if we let Him. So instead of asking "why," start asking "who." Who do You want to make me in this season, Lord? Because when you shift that question, everything changes.