Although the frosty winter winds are still howling, just like most everyone else I am beginning to think of spring. We think of a new season because we are ready for a change. Winter has its virtues, but it is time to shed the heavy coats and gloves. We are weary of scraping the frost from our windshields and slipping on the ice. Most of us have already made plans to welcome the arrival of our new season. And regardless of the groundhogs prediction, nobody likes for spring to be late.
The gardener readies his implements for work, but if spring is late the tools go back into the shed. The farmer assures his ploughs are in working order, but if spring is late there will be no need to till the cold soil. The merchant displays his seed and bedding plants, but he will have few customers if spring tarries. We all have personal and individual pictures of spring. Perhaps it is the dogwood in the front yard, or perhaps it is the daffodils that grow along your drive. Each home displays spring just a little differently.
Here in North Carolina we are blessed that we have a spring to look forward to. Think about it! There are many human beings who have never seen spring at all. There are men and women in the polar regions who have never known what spring is. With minor variations, they have winter all the time. They have nothing but ice and snow every day of the year. They may live their entire life without seeing the beauty of spring. Likewise, there are people in the tropics who have never known anything but summer. They have never seen the trees shed their leaves or snow cover the ground. We are blessed to enjoy four wonderful seasons, each displaying their own glory.
Spring is a Miracle
When you go to the dictionary in search of a definition of a miracle, you are told that it is an event which cannot be accounted for by the known forces of nature. Well, that’s exactly what spring is. I know you can explain the seasons by the varying of the inclination of the earth’s axis of rotation to the position of the sun. But, does that really explain the miracle of spring? Just because the angles which the sunbeams strike the earth may alter, does that explain why the earth suddenly comes to life? How can the same sunbeams make one tree green and another blossom in pink or white? Let the same sun rays, at the same angle, fall upon a bush, and the bush blossoms in red. Let the same rays fall upon another bush and the bush glows in purple or yellow. How can this be if it is not a miracle? Only God could do something like that. Rare would be the miracle, even as recorded in the Bible, which would be as amazing as the miracle of spring.
Spring is a Miracle of Beauty
All seasons of the year are beautiful, but spring has a beauty which is unique. She has a different beauty from that of winter or summer. The beauty of spring is often gentle and delicate. Where does all this beauty come from? It comes from God. Spring is like an enchanted palace filled with beautiful flowers and luscious fragrance. Yet, it is a palace that only God could build.
Spring is a Miracle of Power
Man now has weapons capable of destroying the earth, but they pale when compared to the tremendous forces exhibited by the birth of spring. The earth dies every winter. Who has the power to bring it back to life again? We might possess the power to destroy the beauty of spring, but could we create it? Of course not.
There is not heat enough in all the furnaces of the world to melt all of winter’s ice and warm the earth again. When Lazarus lay within the tomb he made no response to the weeping and cries of his sisters, but when the Master spoke, the dead man came back to life. Spring is like the trump of God that causes the dead earth to stand upon its feet and live.
Spring is a revelation of God’s love.
One day, Jesus explained God’s universal love in a discourse to a group of poor peasants. He explained it like this:
“That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.” Matthew 5:45
This statement speaks of the breadth of God’s mercy. Spring reminds us that God is no respecter of persons. When you take a springtime drive and pass the mansion of the wealthy, you can tell spring has arrived in his manicured gardens. But then you pass the humble home of the poor, and you find spring visits the rich and poor alike.
Spring also demonstrates that God never changes
Leonardo da Vinci’s Last Supper is a faded and fragile reminder of its former glory. The masterpieces of the great masters all are faded. The bright reds are becoming dark, and the yellows are becoming white. The skies are no longer blue, and the earth no longer glows in green. God is the only Master whose masterpieces are fadeless. Just as sure as the blood of Christ is still fresh and fadeless, the colors of spring this year will be as fresh and beautiful as were the colors in the first spring that ever greeted the eye of man. God is God, He is the same yesterday, today, and forever.
We cannot stop the winter, or make it something different than what it is. We may be tired of the cold, but each season has its own glory. We may have grown weary of the burnt winter colors, and we long for the rich and lush greens of spring. But, if you look closely, the signs of spring are beginning to arrive, even in the slightest little ways. There are birds chirping and pecking for bugs in the backyard. The sun is warmer on your face than it has been in recent days. You can feel it coming. The earth is soon coming back to life.
I’m so grateful to live in an area with seasons. The shifting, inevitable change. I am also grateful to see His hand over it all. Knowing with certainty that the miracle of rebirth we shall soon see can only be explained by the power of an Almighty God.
Dr. Worthington has been in the ministry over forty years and serves as President of Pathway Ministries.