Receive the In-Between Story of Spring

I love spring so very much!  I know many fall and summer lovers abound in our midst, and to that I say will pray for you in the spirit of Romans 14:1 (just kidding!). A few days ago, as I drove on a street in my neighborhood, I was freshly reminded of the beauty of this transitional season. Cherry blossom trees erupted next to trees still leafless. My backyard is coming alive but no mosquitoes quite yet (praise the Lord!). My rose bush looks like it might live another year just yet although no buds have started. The neighborhood park is livelier and even though I’ve started to take allergy medicine daily, it’s hard not to feel just a little more hopeful. That in-between feeling, still seeing remnants of winter even as spring bursts forth unashamedly, is also a beautiful picture of where we are in the church calendar.

It’s time to start thinking about Holy Week and Easter plans (we’d love to see you!) and Easter outfits (surely not just me?). Of course it’s also time to turn our hearts to the bedrock of the Christian faith: the honoring and observing of the life, death, and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. See summer and fall people, spring is pretty great!

‍And yet, we are somehow also just weeks past Ash Wednesday service where we pledged to reflect on our mortality, sin, and need of a Savior. Many of us are still battling our flesh as we commit to various practices of fasting even as we make preparations to feast.

I hope we can take a lesson from the parable of my little neighborhood. Let us do both. Let us continue to bring our weariness, need, and limitation to a God who assures us of his mercy and faithfulness even as his word tells us to number our days and humble ourselves rightly. Let us allow our hearts to receive the beauty of the physical season as we turn to the glorious truth that Jesus is alive! He really did do all he said he would do.

Is there more lamenting, confession, and repentance to do? Follow the conviction and invitation of the Spirit and don’t delay.

Is there a hope bursting forth in your heart for what the Lord might do? Receive it with hope and faith.

If I may, let us be spring people who can acknowledge that the weariness of winter still has its mark but that the buzz of hope and eternal life has unashamedly laid its claim.