Spring is Coming!

I know, I know…we’ve just experienced two snowfalls in three days.

Culpeper Schools have been closed since Tuesday.

And the forecast is for MORE nasty weather next week.

But let me backtrack a few days earlier this week…

My Monday at the Culpeper County Library Circulation Desk officially ends at 5:30pm when I hang up my magnetic name badge on my mailbox and toss a day’s worth of accumulated rubber bands onto a clip, preparing the way for the next time I don the identity of Joe the Circulation Desk Guy.

I quickly slip on my coat, gloves, and assorted books I’ve picked out throughout the day and shuffle over to the main doors. A few hurried goodbyes and I’m out of the building and into the winter darkness.

It’s always strange, leaving work while it is still dark, but it’s just one aspect of the winter season. Mind you, I’m from Miami, so the first time I experienced darkness during what was supposed to be “daylight hours” was on a winter trip to New York City. I was astounded that though my watch told me it was still afternoon, the gloomy darkness told a different tale. The northern latitudes naturally receive less hours of daylight than the southern ones due to the tilt of our planet’s axis.

So picture my surprise when my friend Robert (who I was taking home) practically shouted with delight “It’s still light!”

Huh? I looked up and realized he was correct. For the first time in months, I had walked out into a parking lot that was still bathed in (a fading but still there) twilight.

With a shock I realized that the robe of winter was beginning its gradual thaw towards spring.

Spring. Sunlight and flowers. Warmth and new life. If winter is a metaphor for the sleep of death, spring must be about resurrection.

I could hardly believe that spring was indeed on its way.

Now of course, as I write this there is snow on the ground. But you know what? I don’t care. I know that winter is slowly giving way to spring.

Cold winds and weather are just the last gasps of winter; regardless whether it lasts through February or goes on past March.

Spring is on its way, sooner or later IT IS GOING TO COME!

And that’s refreshing.

Our lives are full of seasons. We have seasons spent in the sun where all seems to go well. Everything we touch seems to turn to gold.

We also experience seasons of change where life is beautiful yet a little melancholy.

The winter seasons in our lives are the tough ones.

These are seasons of illness and pain, loss and regret. These are seasons where the sun hides behind the clouds of our worries and fears. These are seasons where everywhere we turn, we are assailed by bone-chilling gusts of wind.

We don’t think we can make it. There doesn’t seem to be much (if any) hope.

But there is. Oh yes, there is.

Spring is coming!

What season are you in right now? What are some winters that you have seen come and gone? How did God bring about the spring that you waited for?

Joe

Psalm 147
Praise the LORD! How good to sing praises to our God! How delightful and how fitting! The LORD is rebuilding Jerusalem and bringing the exiles back to Israel. He heals the brokenhearted and bandages their wounds. He counts the stars and calls them all by name. How great is our Lord! His power is absolute! His understanding is beyond comprehension! The LORD supports the humble, but he brings the wicked down into the dust.

Sing out your thanks to the LORD; sing praises to our God with a harp. He covers the heavens with clouds, provides rain for the earth, and makes the grass grow in mountain pastures. He gives food to the wild animals and feeds the young ravens when they cry. He takes no pleasure in the strength of a horse or in human might. No, the LORD’s delight is in those who fear him, those who put their hope in his unfailing love.

Glorify the LORD, O Jerusalem! Praise your God, O Zion! For he has strengthened the bars of your gates and blessed your children within your walls. He sends peace across your nation and satisfies your hunger with the finest wheat. He sends his orders to the world— how swiftly his word flies! He sends the snow like white wool; he scatters frost upon the ground like ashes. He hurls the hail like stones. Who can stand against his freezing cold?

Then, at his command, it all melts. He sends his winds, and the ice thaws. He has revealed his words to Jacob, his decrees and regulations to Israel. He has not done this for any other nation; they do not know his regulations. Praise the LORD!

Isaiah 55
“Is anyone thirsty? Come and drink— even if you have no money! Come, take your choice of wine or milk— it’s all free! Why spend your money on food that does not give you strength? Why pay for food that does you no good? Listen to me, and you will eat what is good. You will enjoy the finest food.

“Come to me with your ears wide open. Listen, and you will find life. I will make an everlasting covenant with you. I will give you all the unfailing love I promised to David. See how I used him to display my power among the peoples. I made him a leader among the nations. You also will command nations you do not know, and peoples unknown to you will come running to obey, because I, the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel, have made you glorious.”

Seek the LORD while you can find him. Call on him now while he is near. Let the wicked change their ways and banish the very thought of doing wrong. Let them turn to the LORD that he may have mercy on them. Yes, turn to our God, for he will forgive generously.

“My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the LORD. “And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.

“The rain and snow come down from the heavens and stay on the ground to water the earth. They cause the grain to grow, producing seed for the farmer and bread for the hungry. It is the same with my word. I send it out, and it always produces fruit. It will accomplish all I want it to, and it will prosper everywhere I send it.

You will live in joy and peace. The mountains and hills will burst into song, and the trees of the field will clap their hands! Where once there were thorns, cypress trees will grow. Where nettles grew, myrtles will sprout up. These events will bring great honor to the LORD’s name; they will be an everlasting sign of his power and love.”

NLTse