An Unlikeable Month
Let’s begin by acknowledging that the February is a challenging month:
- It’s cold.
- It’s dark.
- The holidays are behind us.
- The extra holiday weight we gained is still with us.
- And the springtime feels like it is still months away.
But what really sets February apart as the worst month of winter (and arguably, the entire year) are the sneaky-yet-predictable feelings of depression and lethargy that first invade and then attempt to break our spirits. February offers few external motivators, so it’s just easy (1) to feel tired in February, (2) to feel down in February, and (3) to justify “staying in” in February: (a) staying inside the house, (b) staying in bed past the alarm, (c) staying in my sweatpants past noon, etc.
A February Miracle
(Let’s skip the commiserating and get to the point.)
Can we find any reason for hope in the next 28 days?
Yes. And if we push past the passive life management system of always letting our circumstances determine our mood, it is actually pretty easy. Remind yourself that God is good. Say this out loud: “February stinks, but God is good.” That’s all you need.
You might be terribly sleepy, or seriously downcast. But remember what Jesus said to the crowd: “The child is not dead but sleeping.” If God can give a dead person life – He can easily give a sad person hope.
So… stop it.
Stop wallowing in the same seasonal depression. Stop participating in the February spiritual-hibernation season.
Wake up.
Snap out of it.
Start putting up a spiritual fight.
Take your eyes off of your own despair and place them on the God who brings light out of darkness.
A Possible February Theme Song
A great place to start might be reading a few Psalms to get a reminder of “how” to turn from despair to hope in God. Here, for your convenience, is Psalm 42:
1 (For the choir director: A psalm of the descendants of Korah.)
As the deer longs for streams of water, so I long for you, O God.
2 I thirst for God, the living God.
When can I go and stand before him?
3 Day and night I have only tears for food,
while my enemies continually taunt me, saying,
“Where is this God of yours?”
4 My heart is breaking
as I remember how it used to be:
I walked among the crowds of worshipers,
leading a great procession to the house of God,
singing for joy and giving thanks
amid the sound of a great celebration!
5 Why am I discouraged?
Why is my heart so sad?
I will put my hope in God!
I will praise him again—
my Savior and
6 my God!
Now I am deeply discouraged,
but I will remember you—
even from distant Mount Hermon, the source of the Jordan,
from the land of Mount Mizar.
7 I hear the tumult of the raging seas
as your waves and surging tides sweep over me.
8 But each day the LORD pours his unfailing love upon me,
and through each night I sing his songs,
praying to God who gives me life.
9 “O God my rock,” I cry,
“Why have you forgotten me?
Why must I wander around in grief,
oppressed by my enemies?”
10 Their taunts break my bones.
They scoff, “Where is this God of yours?”
11 Why am I discouraged?
Why is my heart so sad?
I will put my hope in God!
I will praise him again—
my Savior and my God!
Happy February everyone!