For I am about to do something new. See, I have already begun! Do you not see it? I will make a pathway through the wilderness. I will create dry rivers in the wasteland. (Isa. 43:19)
The first day of spring this year fell on March 20th. I am the kind of person who loathes winter. People have tried to explain to me the benefits of winter, but to me it’s dark, cold, snowy and wet and I don’t like it. Give me spring, summer or fall and I’ll be fine, but something in me dies a little when winter comes around. (Okay, so maybe that’s a bit overdramatic, but you get the picture). That’s why I was personally insulted and offended when just shy of a week before the first day of spring, my little corner of New England was hit with a snowstorm. Not even right. In theory, I understood that the arrival of the snowstorm didn’t mean that spring wasn’t still coming. It may have taken a little longer to reach those warmer temperatures, but spring weather was inevitably coming nonetheless. I just needed patience.
When it comes to our lives, we don’t have calendars and timelines to tell us when the hard seasons of life are going to give way to seasons of joy and blessing. But we do have faith and we do have hope. I learned something from the snowstorm. That snowstorm came a week before the day that marked the beginning of spring. The storms we experience in life lie to us. They speak discouragement to our hearts and try to make us believe that storms last forever. What they don’t tell us is that our spring, the new thing God is doing, a shifting of seasons, could literally be right around the corner. The presence of the storm doesn’t mean our breakthrough isn’t coming. I believe that our breakthrough is coming much sooner than we think.
Every once in a while, I reflect on my history with the Lord. Without exception, the greatest trials and difficulties that I have overcome have brought me to the greatest blessings in my life. All of those situations had a few things in common. I could never seem to figure out how to get out of my circumstances and into the breakthrough. Things always seemed to be at their absolute worst. And there were always a lot of voices (both internally and externally) attempting to rob me of my hope. Each time I have found myself in this pit, God has put together for me what I could never figure out on my own. He has turned what seemed to be the absolute worst around for my ultimate good. And He has proven over and over again that no matter what anyone says, there is always always always hope.
Don’t lose heart in the storm. New things are coming.
I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in Him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit. (Rom. 15:13)
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