THE HOPE OF SPRING
Hebrews 3:15
Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion.
Winters in Michigan's UP can be very long. Occasionally we have areas that the first snows start in mid October and the last snows end in May. There are many times that I've seen the coldest temperature in the lower 48 was here in our area. We've learned to live with the snow and cold, or we leave and move south.
While we've learned to live with these temperatures and snow, yet there are times when life almost shuts down. The small towns have to deal with snow removal issues and in the most severe conditions frozen pipes. My dad told me when he was a kid on the farm they had to keep the water trickling from a faucet so the pipes wouldn't freeze up in winter.
We all have times when we go through times of spiritual winter. Things slow down, life almost seems to come to a stop. Like those frozen pipes, things aren't flowing like they should. We feel as though our prayers aren't able to get through.
If we're not careful these times of spiritual winter can become extended, where we lose trust in God. We lose trust that He has our best interest at heart, or even that He is there for us all the time.
Usually if your pipes freeze it takes someone to come with the equipment to fix the problem. When we are going through a time of spiritual winter and our "spiritual" pipes become frozen we also need to bring others in around us. A Christian friend that can warm us through prayer, scripture and God's Word.
The good news is that right behind winter comes spring, a time of new growth and springing forth new life. The songs of the birds is sweet in the morning and most days are warmer and brighter.
If you are going through a time of spiritual winter, don't lose heart, don't fall for the lie that God has moved away from you. God is here waiting for you to realize that spring is almost here. New hope springs forth and our hearts will warm again.
I've said before that I love many of the old hymns. One of those that I can sing from memory is "What a friend we have in Jesus",
This song by Joseph Scriven spoke to our times of spiritual winter. I recently heard that instead of the words, "Are we weak and heavy laden", Joseph originally wrote, "Are we cold and unbelieving". I think it's too bad that these words were changed in this hymn. They might have helped us to see our need for the thawing of God's Spirit.
Don't lose heart... Spring is coming.
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