Look, the winter is past, and the rains are over and gone. The flowers are springing up, the season of singing birds has come, and the cooing of turtledoves fills the air. The fig trees are forming young fruit, and the fragrant grapevines are blossoming. (Song of Solomon 2: 11-13)
As I watch new life springing up from the cold harshness of winter, I think of you, my readers, and the stories you have continually been sharing with me recently – story after story of new life breathed into marriages that once appeared to be dead.
It’s the same, familiar story God brings to us when the world seems dark and hope seems gone. For just when we think the winter will never end, we see a small sprig of green pushing up from the earth, and we realize hope has not disappeared but lies dormant beneath the soil of our dreams, waiting for the sun to shine—waiting for the light to bring it forth.
For after winter, we know the spring will eventually come.
Springtime brings us a wonderful reminder that God is not through with us or our story. For just as He is always at work beneath the surface of the soil, He is always at work beneath the surface of our lives to burst through the crust of disillusionment to bring beauty when we least expect it.
If we can plant even that tiny seed of faith into the soil of our heart and turn our face to God, He will help us grow it into something beautiful. He promises to bring “beauty from ashes” and hope from the dreariness of our pain.
Doing A New Thing in the Wilderness
I love the words of Isaiah 43:18-19, “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.”
This was a scripture God gave to me—no, I should say this was a promise God gave to me—even at a time when I saw little hope for my marriage to survive the separation that had torn my marriage apart.
I was sitting in a church service and an elderly missionary was speaking. He began reading from the Bible, and when he spoke these words, they jumped out at me and lodged in my heart. I knew these words were for me, and I wrote them down. It was one of the turning points that brought me hope. Although nothing had changed between my husband and me, God gave me a promise that nourished my heart. God was at work behind the scenes. Beneath the hard winter of my days, God was preparing the soil for springtime.
God’s Stories Woven through Nature
Just as God uses analogies from nature to speak to us in the Bible, He often does the same when we gaze into the wonders of the creation He gave us – even simple expressions of nature we find in our own backyards. Often, when I spend time digging in the dirt, trimming the bushes, or planting flowers—even when I’m pulling weeds—God whispers His truths into my heart, weaving them through nature and bringing them to me as gifts. Once unwrapped, they open my mind and heart to a new hope borne from God. For the stories in my garden also weave through the stories in my life until they sprout into something promising that lifts me higher than I was before and gives me something to ponder.
Perhaps you’ve seen some of these gifts unfold in your own garden or maybe you will discover them on a day when you least expect it—amongst the weeds, in a wilted flower, or a broken branch. For if you look close enough and deep enough, you can see hope emerging from places where you don’t expect to find it. When disappointments weigh us down, God can surprise us with a burst of wonder, the gift of story, and the shining rays of hope.
For the next few weeks on Heart Talk, let’s celebrate spring together. I’d like to invite you to join me in the garden as we take a walk and explore the truths God weaves through the simple things of nature. For when we do, I believe you may be surprised to discover how often you can find hope in unexpected places.
© Linda Rooks 2019
Join the conversation: When have you found hope in unexpected places? Comment below.
Read Linda’s new book, Fighting for Your Marriage while Separated – available now
That phrase gripped me! This looks so good!