Spring Is Coming

Spring is coming, and God proves His faithfulness once again.

Has it not seemed like a long, cold winter this year? I’m no meteorologist, nor the son of a meteorologist (although my Dad is an avid viewer of The Weather Channel), but it feels like we’ve had a rougher than normal winter weather pattern here in Southern Illinois. I, for one, am glad Spring is coming.

It’s not that I’m not used to rough winters. Amy and I lived in Rockford, IL, for eight years after we got married, and let me tell you, we endured some cold weather. Our last winter there I remember getting our first major snowfall on Dec. 15, and the snow kept the ground covered until late March.

Then we lived in Kansas City for three years. We thought it was like moving to the tropics compared to Northern Illinois. But though the temperatures didn’t get quite as cold, nor stay so cold for so long, the winter chill still made its presence known. Ice storms seemed to be pretty popular there, including one that covered my car so heavily that it took over an hour to chip through to get in, and somehow manage to carve out about a plate size hole on the windshield to be able to see to drive to work.

So when we came to Southern Illinois we thought we had it made – until our first Christmas dumped almost two feet of snow on us. But we’ve since enjoyed very mild winters for the past few years. This year we made up for it. Did you suppose it had anything to do with the abundance of black woolly-worms crawling around last fall?

Ah, but now the calendar declares Spring has arrived! We’ve even had a few days giving us a foretaste of the warmer weather that awaits. And in the changing of the seasons, from winter to spring, we’re reminded of the faithfulness of our Creator.

The old hymn says it well: “Summer and winter and springtime and harvest / Sun, moon and stars in their courses above / Join with all nature in manifold witness / To Thy great faithfulness, mercy and love.”

Genesis 1:14 tells us, “And God said, ‘Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark seasons and days and years.’”

Who is the One who sends the rain in due season, so that the ground will yield its crops and the trees of the field their fruit? Who is the One who appoints the sun to shine by day and calls forth the moon and the stars at night? Who is the One who makes the grass grow on the hills, provides food for the cattle and the young raven when they call?

Is it not the Lord God Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, the sea and everything in them – the Lord who remains faithful forever? Is His faithfulness not evident in the beauty of the changing seasons, and in the precision with which He holds all things together?

God’s glory is magnificently displayed throughout His creation. His eternal power and divine nature are clearly seen in the things that He has made. The psalmist thought upon these things and marveled: “When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him?” (Psalm 8:3-4).

And, friend, it is precisely that care, the love God has for us, that inspires our songs of praise and fills our hearts with wonder and awe and gratitude for who He is and what He has done for us.

Maybe you’ve been through a rough season of your own lately. Whether it’s a financial hardship, a broken relationship, a difficult illness or a period of grief – whatever it is – it feels like you’ve been dumped on or iced over. But I want you to know that when you cry out to the Lord for help, Spring is coming!

“Though the sorrow may last for the night, joy comes in the morning” (Psalm 30:5). I want to encourage you today, weary one, to look to the Lord and to the strength of His might. Call upon His name and put your hope in Christ Jesus as Savior and Lord.

He will prove His faithfulness once again as He turns your winter into spring. You’ll find that He is a merciful helper and healer, and you will declare with the psalmist: “You have turned my mourning into dancing; you have removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy, that my heart may sing to you and not be silent. O Lord my God, I will give thanks to you forever!” (Psalm 30:11-12).