Spring Is a Promise

“Spring is a promise in the closed fist of a long winter . . .”

Lifted from a poem by Luci Shaw, these words frame my thinking on this blustery day when the promises I made to myself and to God back in January about healthy choices and better habits have begun to sputter out for lack of oxygen; when no one even remembers what the groundhog saw or didn’t see.

Here in Maine, March 2o, the first day of spring, is just another number on the calendar, and so until winter opens its fist on the promise of spring, I’m sticking close to some promises of a more reliable sort:

• “And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work,”  II Corinthians 9:8 — When daylight is scarce, it’s nice to be reminded that grace is abundant and that God is in the business of dispensing it in full measure according to my need.

• “Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen,” (Ephesians 3:20) — More promises of abundance, and a reminder that God is carefully working out every detail of my life for my good and for His glory.

• “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you,  who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time,” I Peter 1:3-5 — A living hope is what I need — and a reminder that Christ’s resurrection ushered in all the great promises tied to our salvation.

Spring may be held fast in the grip of winter here in Maine, but the promises of our open-handed God are every bit as good today (when my driveway is a sea of mud and slush) as they will be when the violets and daffodils finally find their way into the sunshine.

Hope in God is a confident expectation — not a cross-your-fingers aspiration.  I hope you’ll join me in staying close to The Promises, reading our way into a hopeful heart no matter what we see outside the window.

Let these words feed your hope as we prepare for the celebration of Resurrection Sunday!

Hebrews 1:10-12
Romans 8:38, 39
I Corinthians 15:50-55
Galatians 2:20
Philippians 3:20, 21

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