Pilgrim Road Blog Photo

Pilgrim Road Blog Photo

Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Spring's a Comin'

It got warm for a while.  And we got used to the warm.  We pulled out our short sleeved shirts, admired the daffodils popping out from formerly hard ground and forgot it was still March in the Northeast.  We got that certain kind of amnesia that humans like to get...the kind that forgets that there are sometimes snowstorms in March, and bitter winds and cold rains.
We want Spring so desperately. 

Isn't it the same in the soul's winter?  During times of testing and trial, I long for ease.  For warm, caressing breezes far from the biting air that makes me haul out my linty black winter coat again.  But who can choose the weather?  And who can choose the test? 

Job could not have known the cosmic reality going on behind his severe suffering.  The bitter winds of trouble blistered his hope, but did not kill it.  In his winter of discontent he would not curse God.  Question, yes.  Rail even.  But there was something within him, like with Jacob and the angel, that held on yet to a hope of Spring.  Not just the relief of suffering.  But the prospect of something beautiful coming out of that hard ground of perseverance.  Something like knowing, like seeing God.

God's goodness did not change because Job didn't see the big picture.  But Job changed when he saw God.  The broken, humbled man forgot the long winter when He who transcends all our spiritual weather blew the warm wind of sovereign grace on his smallness.  Still, we're reading the story after the fact.  Job lived it in real time, not knowing the background or outcome.  And now, he likely sits among that great cloud of witnesses on the edge of their seats to see how Jesus is going to get us through...and no doubt he's smiling, because he sees our stories from the outside... and he knows what's waiting for those who persevere. 

"Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him."  James 1:12 

Springs a comin'.  The mercy's a fallin'.  The dead will be arisin'.

Persevere.  And cling hard to Jesus even when you don't understand.

Your friend on the pilgrim road,

Loriann

I cut the daffodils so tonite's frost wouldn't kill them.  Save beauty when you can.



2 comments:

  1. Amen, sister! I love those daffodils. There's something surprising every year when the winter is close to ending - the flowers that I didn't plant or care for come up with cheery faces to remind me that winter is not forever. I forget where they are until I see their little green shoots in the snow.
    Mine were planted by a previous owner sometime ago and I just reap the benefits.
    God's going to do that in you, keep and eye out for blessing that you did not plant or work for:) That's the kind of Daddy that we have.
    And oh, if you are driving by my house and want to pick a few blooms to bring into your house, go for it. They'd be chopped and in a vase if I was there :)
    (You can even use it as a prophetic sign of what God is going to do if you want :)
    Love and miss you.

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  2. Oh, sween Melanie, how your comment made my day! And I will go get some flowers, just to keep all of you close and to think of how dear you are to us...and to Him. Love you, love you! Loriann

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