Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” Hebrews 11:1
I stood at the window and looked. It was a cold morning in January…and it was getting colder. Overnight an arctic front had blown through leaving a heavy dusting of snow and falling temperatures all accompanied by a blustery north wind that made the cold seem even more frigid. The morning light was just breaking so it was still dark and as I looked, I saw despair…saw nothing that seemed to offer hope.
Life is like that sometimes, isn’t it? Everywhere we look there are challenges. House fires, accidents, perplexing situations with our careers and injustice are all around us. We have several in our families who are struggling with cancer and end-of-life stages. Well-used bodies are beginning to fail. Even though the life journey for them has been long, it is still difficult to face the fact that some goodbyes are not far in the future.
And then there is tomorrow. Tomorrow I will be officiating at a funeral for a much too young 18-year-old high school junior. He was struck by an automobile and didn’t survive the encounter. It is going to be hard—there is just no way around it. See what I mean? Life can often seem like the view from my winter window. It would seem so hopeless…except for one thing. Spring.
You see, all things equal, I know something. I know that sleeping beneath the cold and perhaps frozen earth are grass and plants from last year and while they are sleeping now, they won’t sleep forever. In just a couple of months, a few weeks, they are going to burst back into the sun and life will begin again. It is going to happen because that is the way God made it. He created the seasons for us to…enjoy. It is hard to understand that on this cold January morning, but it is true. And this cold morning is going to help me appreciate the new life when it happens. I will have a deeper appreciation of life.
So, if your life seems like a frigid morning in January, know this. God wants, God desires to bring life in the Spring. Whether it is an encounter with eternity or a dark time with no sign of light, God wants to bring hope into your story. He gave His Son for that very purpose. Jesus died on a Roman cross so we could live. He defeated death by coming back to life that first Easter morning. Just like the first flower brave enough to bloom in early Spring, so He bloomed to offer hope…to each of us…to all of us. All we must do is believe, to have faith.
All the wishing in the world won’t change the view out my winter window…but time will. And in His time, He will bring Spring to yours too. Don’t give up. Just believe this. Right below the surface of your life, just like the cold, frozen ground outside my window, there is life, and that life is going to burst out of the ground one day. There is hope…even where you are now. Struggling to believe? Don’t worry…He can help you with that too. He who requires faith can give faith. He’s got this. Bro. Dewayne
Grits with Grace 