Spring Has Sprung

by Elrene van Staden

“In my garden, after a rainfall, you can faintly, yes, hear the breaking of new blooms.” Truman Capote

After a long and cold winter, the trees are still bare, the grass remains a brownish-yellow, and there are no flowers to be seen - yet we celebrate Spring Day, knowing what lies ahead. The season of colour begins today: a time of growth and new beginnings.

We watched the leaves dry out in autumn. They turned from green to orange, yellow, and pink. How is it that something dying can look so beautiful? Does it not hurt when the Lord prunes our branches and breaks off those that bear no fruit - tearing away the things that hold us back to make way for growth? The pain of death is inevitable, but God does not leave us there; He transforms our ashes into beauty and gives us a heart of flesh in place of a heart of stone.

You should not despise the winters you walk through. It is there that you are formed - like clay in the potter’s hands, being moulded, stretched, and shaped into something better than before. The trials we face are designed for our growth in Christ Jesus. If we were only spoiled and received everything we asked for, we would be exactly that: spoiled.

Imagine saying yes to everything your child asks for - candy and Coke for breakfast, the most expensive branded clothes, every toy they ever wanted. “Yes, you can play video games all night. Don’t worry about bedtime, homework, or cleaning your room.” What kind of adult would they grow into?

“For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,” says the Lord.

“For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts." - Isaiah 55:8–9

Until the end of time, we will always be God’s children, and He will always know what is best for us. You may find that your life becomes much more peaceful when you stop resisting what God is doing. We are protected by Him, by the Shield of Faith. No trouble will befall you without His authority. As in the book of Job, the devil had to ask permission to afflict Job - and the Lord allowed it, only to bless him with double in the end and reveal His inconceivable magnificence.

These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world. - John 16:33

We have seen how God turns our trials into strength. We have seen how He draws near to the broken-hearted and the poor in spirit. Was the winter season not the time you felt His closeness most deeply? Was that not when your relationship with Him grew stronger - when He carried you and led you out of the storm?

“Why, then, can one desire too much of a good thing?” - Shakespeare

May you embrace the coming season with hope and joy, whatever lies ahead. May you put your trust in God, knowing that He will work all things for good for those who love Him. May you see the Lord’s hand in the seasons behind you and trust that He will bless you in the days ahead. For our God is not out to harm us, but to give us a hope and a future (Jeremiah 29:11).

God bless you on this beautiful Spring Day.

I pray in Jesus’ holy name. Amen. ✨