SPRING FORTH

“They shall feed along the roads, and their pastures shall be on all desolate heights. They shall neither hunger nor thirst, neither heat nor sun shall strike them, for He who has mercy on them will lead them, even by springs of water He will guide them.
I will make My mountains a road, and My highways shall be not be mired in mud” (from Is. 49:9-11)

The wind howling around the house sounds cold and chilling. Snow fills the air and is plastered on the window screens. Cold seeps through the old walls as drifts pile high against the buildings. Winter coming again in April is not a welcome sight. Snow and cold seem to be all that we will ever have. Spring is supposed to be here, but it doesn’t look like spring out my window this morning. It looks bleak and frozen, just like January. How I long for bright sunshine on my face and warm breezes on my cheek. Spring is long in coming this year. Storm after snowstorm blows into our area. How long will the cold and dark of winter go on?
But wait! Is that green grass I see? Just a glimpse in the bare spots where the snow has blown off? Is that my irises poking out of the snow by the house? Wait a minute I see a Robin! One Robin! No there’s two! A bunch of Robins huddled on the fence looking miserable but waiting patiently for the sunshine and that worm to come out.

Isn’t that the song of a Meadow Lark? “Spring is coming soon! Spring is coming soon!” Yes! The light brown bird with yellow on his wing, the cheerleader of the prairie, sings in the middle of the storm. The harbingers of spring, the birds, the green shoots of grass, and the first sprouts of spring flowers bringing hope of new life are really there to be seen if only I look close enough.

Sure enough days later, weeks later, when the storms move on and the breezes feel warm on my face, the snow begins to melt. Soon green grass is showing everywhere and when I am out on a walk I see a wild crocus coming up getting ready to bloom. The sun shines, the wind is warm and welcoming, birds sing, Meadow Larks are on the prairie again, the geese honk as they fly over going north, and the other day I saw a big flock of cranes high over head, flying north. A sure sign that spring is indeed here. Suddenly, life comes back to the frozen, winter-locked prairie. The mule deer are once more in our yard, bunnies bounce across the hills, baby calves are in the fields, antelope are seeking places to drop their calves, birds are building nests, sharptails and pheasants are pairing up and nesting, even toads and frogs are singing in the night. Life and growth abounds. Hope springs forth.

This past year, since March 10th, 2012 has been a long, dark and sometimes very cold winter in my life. Oh, there have been warm times when southern winds blew wonderful things into my life. There has been renewal and growth and sweet communion with my Lord and Savior, but the harsh winds seemed to blow unceasingly and the cold fingers of deep freeze were wrapped tightly around my heart. Sometimes life seems so dead and the future hopeless. How long will this season of winter go on? Is there no hope?

Wait a minute! Is that not a glimmer of hope I see? A Son ray shining in the darkness? Have I not seen treasures in darkness? And found hidden riches in secret places? Has He not made darkness light before me? And crooked places straight?
“Behold I will do a new things,” says the Lord, “Now it shall spring forth!”

A new thing! Forget the old, He says, don’t even consider former things. The way things were before my son died are no more. Don’t even consider them, they are no more. However, this winter will pass and new things will spring forth. New life, new growth, new love.

“I see it Lord! I see the beginnings of new life! The old has passed away but the new comes! You bring the blind (me) by a way I did not know and you lead me in paths I have not yet known. You open gates and double doors; You go before me and make crooked paths straight. You make a way, Lord, You make a road in the wilderness and rivers in the desert. You will do it!

Spending Easter with my Grandkids was a life giving time. Seeing their enthusiasm and excitement for the celebration of the resurrection of our Savior brought sunshine into our lives. John was no longer the only one to get excited about coloring eggs and the Great Easter Egg Hunt! Seeing their hunger for Godly things and the word of God was like a warm breeze blowing in our faces. They are like sponges soaking up the teachings of Jesus! To see the joy and love in young eyes when they realize what Jesus did for them and how wide, how deep, how high is His love, is like a bird song in my heart.

God, You do not forsake us to winter’s freeze! You will not forsake me ever! You say “Trust Me! I will open rivers in desolate high places where there is only rock and sky. I will cause fountains to come forth in the valleys and in the wilderness, springs of living water for my Children I will create. I will plant trees of all kinds in the desert and the wilderness. I will make a new planting for my Glory. Behold I will do it!”

The Lord gives and the Lord takes away. And the Lord gives again. And again. We lost my son, a special thing, from this world, but God gives new life, new hope, new growth. I learn new dimensions of trust and leaning on my Jesus. I see His glory, I learn to bask in His light, I understand that praising Him opens the doors of Heaven and I focus completely on His presence. I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that my son is with his Savior in Glory. I am certain that God never leaves me or forsakes me. He is with me always even to my gray hairs, even through my old age when I have no son to take care of me, He will carry me. He says, “I have made you I will bear you! I will even carry you and I will deliver you always!” (from Is. 46:4)

To be with our Grandkids, to experience their joy, their enthusiasm for life, to see them grabbing onto the things I love, brings springtime to my soul. The winter season always passes. Green grass grows, birds come, flowers bloom, warm breezes blow, life is renewed. He leads us down new roads of adventure and opens ways that have been blocked. Behold He will do a new thing. Now it shall springs forth!
Read Isaiah 41:17-20, 42:16, 43:18-19, 45:1-2 (all scripture references from these verses)