Spring?

This feels like the longest wait for Spring. EVER! (I'm yelling that in my mind). Between the cloudy, cold days and muddy dog prints all over my kitchen floor - it feels like I'm living in perpetual March. At first, I was pretty optimistic...I was one of the ones who cheerily thought - "April showers brings May flowers!" Now I feel more like saying "Bah Humbug!" Bring on the warm, sweet breezes already! But, wonder of wonders, I have noticed something these last few days.
Bright, spring green grasses poking up through mud puddles.
Chatty birds singing and singing in the rain.
And, I woke up this morning to see that the buds on our Red Maple tree had burst into blooms under a grey sky.
Cold winds, grey skies, rainy days - it feels more like March - but, things are growing - and changing.
Spring IS here.
Sometimes our life feels like March. Cold. Grey. Dull. Our soul cries out - "What's happening here?" "When will things turn around for me?" The blooming buds on our Maple tree reminded me that, even in the midst of the dreary or downright cold circumstances that may come our way, God can still be bringing growth and change to our hearts.
Remember Moses? The novelty of sleeping under the stars to the bleating of sheep may have worn off after a few years. Do you think he ever wondered if God even cared? If God had a plan for his life? Would spring ever come? Little did he know that God was using the time in the midst of the sheep to shape Moses into a shepherd for the people of Israel.
Perhaps our cold days won't seem so cold if we remember that God can still be working in the midst of them to help us grow.

James 1:2-5(NLT) - Dear brothers and sisters, whenever trouble comes your way, let it be an opportunity for joy. 3 For when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. 4 So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be strong in character and ready for anything. 5 If you need wisdom - if you want to know what God wants you to do - ask him, and he will gladly tell you. He will not resent your asking.

Sometimes I'm scared. The world is full of scary things. Tsunamis. Car accidents. Affairs. Cancer. Burglaries. War. Economic collapse. Nuclear reactors. I know you can name them too. Perhaps one of the scariest things for me is how my feeble self would handle the real scary stuff. Would I fall apart? Would I have grace in the moment? I was reading in Luke a few days ago and Jesus' words reminded me that I can be sure how I would hold up. Just read this from chapter 6.

46 “Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say? 47 As for everyone who comes to me and hears my words and puts them into practice, I will show you what they are like. 48 They are like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock. When a flood came, the torrent struck that house but could not shake it, because it was well built. 49 But the one who hears my words and does not put them into practice is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. The moment the torrent struck that house, it collapsed and its destruction was complete.”

Jesus makes things so simple for us. Do you want to be sure to be full of grace under fire? To stand up under pressure? To come forth as gold?
He says three simple things:
Come to me
Hear my Words
Put them into practice

Come. Hear. Do.