Hungry for God; Starving for Time

Monday

Spring Always Comes -- Encouragement for the Winter-worn Soul

Every year a springtime extravaganza spills from the gardens of Heaven and splashes onto my hometown of Columbia, South Carolina. 

Yellow forsythia bushes whisper from the hedges that Mistress Spring has begun her approach. Trumpeting daffodils echo the note and pass the news, circling trees, edging sidewalks, and clustering around mailboxes, their heads bobbing in conversation. 

Excitement builds as the stately Japanese magnolia, a willowy wisp of elegance, dons her prettiest pink and scatters petals in tribute. Dogwood trees spread a lacy canopy above the gathering. And then, like guests at a grand ball, the azaleas arrive. Dressed in their finest, they curtsy to their neighbors and take their places, nodding their pink, purple, and white heads to their fellow debutantes. 

Springtime is powerful medicine. 

Every whiff of floral sweetness infuses hope into weary, winter-worn souls. Discouragement’s icy grip loosens. Apathy gives way to inspiration and ambition, and hearts begin to dream again. 

My grandmother used to pass long winters by planning her spring vegetable garden. “It’s what gets her through,” her kids acknowledged, and I understand. The hope of spring in the dead of winter is what gets me through, too. 

Sometimes spring comes early, like this year in South Carolina. Other years have left me wondering if budget cuts cancelled the parade. But spring always comes—a testimony to God’s faithfulness. 

I don’t know what season it is in your life. Perhaps death, disease, betrayal, or depression holds you in a Narnian land where “it’s always winter but never Christmas.” Take heart. Just as our faithful Father ushers in spring every year without fail, so will he bring beauty to your season of barrenness. 

Hold on. 

Spring is coming. 

He promised. 



"As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will never cease” (Gen. 8:22).



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1 comment:

  1. Hi Lori, Spring is most certainly showing itself, even where I am (Iowa). Winter is beginning to fade (we had a mild winter); the hope of spring is about to burst out in glory and praise to its Creator. It seems to me that we can enjoy spring more because of winter. Similarly, Good Friday is only good because of Resurrection Sunday!

    Blessings! Happy Easter!

    ReplyDelete

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