On Wednesday, June 21, we in the Northern Hemisphere observed the summer solstice, the longest day of the year. On this day the sun’s rays strike the Earth’s surface at a more direct angle in the Northern Hemisphere than they do in the Southern Hemisphere. After the solstice, we begin to lose about a minute of daylight per day until the winter solstice occurs and days begin to lengthen again. The summer solstice is a day of relief for me because I like knowing that the days are getting shorter, even though this decrease in daylight will not be appreciable for some time. It is just a small comfort to me.
I realize that I am probably in the minority when I say that summer is my least favorite season. If you know me then you know that fall is my favorite followed closely by winter. I love the day we go off daylight savings because there is a big jump to longer nights. There is something I love about being snuggled in a cozy room, maybe with a fire going, while the wind howls in the dark outside. I can’t say that I love being cold, but I really hate being hot. At least in the winter I can add more clothes or wrap up in a blanket.
Although it may be meteorologically incorrect, I think about the summer solstice in this way. God, who created the sun, knows just how much of it we can take. It is like He is saying, “ This is the turning point. If I give the earth more days of sun, it would burn up.” Even though summer is just beginning, and we in Tulsa, Oklahoma have sweltering days ahead, they won’t last forever. Fall will come, followed by winter. In our family, we set our beginning of fall by our granddaughter Hannah’s birthday, which is September 20. Her mother, our daughter, will tell you when she went into the hospital to deliver Hannah it was summer, and when she came out it was fall.
Just as God knows how much heat (or cold) we can take, He also knows how much stress we can take. I had a pastor once who said that every trial has a beginning and an end. I am wondering if there is also a midpoint, a place where God turns the trial toward a conclusion. You may be thinking about a trial that ends in death and there seems to be no turning point, no time of relief. But maybe there is and it just goes unnoticed. Perhaps in these struggles that end in death, there is a point where the soul turns toward home. That moment when God calls us to Himself. “You have had enough of this world. Now come to rest in me.”
But most of our trials do not end in death. Isn’t it a comfort to know that even though we may not be able to see it, our ordeal may be coming to an end? When we think we can’t go another mile or endure another day, we dig in and press on. We take comfort in the knowledge that Jesus is walking with us through our valleys and He knows when to turn things around. And while we are enduring, God is chiseling away, sculpting Christ-like character into us (Rom. 5:4). If you are going through a valley right now, take heart. Be encouraged by the words to this beautiful song by Selah:
When the valley is deep
When the mountain is steep
When the body is weary
When we stumble and fall
When the choices are hard
When we’re battered and scarred
When we’ve spent our resources
When we’ve given our all
In Jesus’ name, we press on
In Jesus’ name, we press on
Dear Lord, with the prize
Clear before our eyes
We find the strength to press on
Dear Lord, with the prize
Clear before our eyes
We find the strength to press on
In Jesus’ name, we press on
In Jesus’ name, we press on
Dear Lord, with the prize
Clear before our eyes
We find the strength to press on
We find the strength to press on
To press on
Source: Musixmatch
Songwriters: Daniel L. Burgess
Press On lyrics © Wb Music Corp.
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