Spring comes in it’s purposed time…

This year marks the first year I can remember in a long time where people are speaking their weariness of winter everyday. Weary and heavy laden with cold days, gray skies, snow flurries, people are screaming for change and renewal. Any blue sky symbolizes hope to them. Especially as the first day of March comes–they are ready for warmth, blue skies and budding trees and flowers. People’s voices sound almost like a groaning symphony for Spring to come immediately.
God is brilliant in how he created distinct seasons, and I am thankful I live in a place to experience all four of them–sorry Arizona. The seasons also mirror our walks with Christ. There is the Spring of new life where He makes us new creations–the old, dead sin gone and the new fruit of righteousness blooming. We mature into Summer as we begin learning to walk in the fullness of relationships with those in Christ–the new walk of a Christian where sunny days are more than cloudy. There is something new and fresh to learn around every corner. There is a joy in the journey of Summer as we are growing and being used and being encouraged. Then the Fall comes–beautiful harvesting of the fruit of our lives–yet dying to ourselves at the same time. This is a picture of how following in the Way of Christ brings suffering in joy. An emptying of the fruit born throughout time—beautiful at first with the brilliant colors and cool temperatures but signifying a colder time to come. Then winter–signifying death–cold, dreary at times, no new growth to be seen. This makes me think of the imagery of bare trees–no buds.
A few weeks ago, I got the privilege of going to my Aunt’s beach house to spend some time with the Lord. I enjoyed quiet, studying, reading, praying, journaling, painting–all a sweet time with God. As I was driving in, I spotted some bare, knotted trees coming out of the marsh. They became a picture of my womb at the moment to me–a picture of infertility. I used them as inspiration to paint pictures to signify this time in my life. This is a picture of winter. However, when winter has taken its course, there are always signs of Spring. All of my paintings had tinges or more of hope–whether pieces of growth tied to the trees (signifying my girls that I pour into and see growing and the gifts of people to me walking with me through this journey) or the colors of Spring life in the background.
We have had some signs of Spring here recently–a warm sunny afternoon, a blue sky. Spring is not here to stay, yet, but we know it is coming. The beautiful thing that we forget about Winter is that there is growth under the ground–seeds ready to sprout. We plant certain flowers in the Fall to be readied all Winter for the Spring. They push up and surprise us with their beauty. They are present right now–we just cannot see them.
Oh what a picture of my heart–weary of this season of Winter yet knowing there is Spring ahead. There is something God is growing beneath the surface–steadfastness, endurance, hope in Him–yet I do not know what flower will bloom and what fruit will show. That is up to Him, and I am learning that His hands are infinitely faithful. Something is coming…and the beauty of it will point to Him.