Springtime

As I look outside the window I get so excited for springtime. The snow is melting and the grass is trying to start growing again. In the distance I hear a bird singing a song of home coming joy. The baseball fields are still covered but many teams are preparing for their first game next week. I can just feel the energy that spring brings to the people in Michigan.

The winter feels like it lasted so long but now that springtime is finally here, it seems like it was so long ago. The temperature is only 46°F outside today but because of the long hard winter we have endured I wouldn’t be surprised to see a few people wearing shorts today. When the season of fall came around many months ago, 46°F seemed like it was freezing; but 46°F in fall, and 46°F in the spring are two different temperatures.

Whenever we come out the other side of a long winter it suddenly doesn’t matter what the thermometer reads. Winter has tried its best to drown out hope, but hope is what got us through it.

I am generalizing a bit but the truth is that we all face a winter of sorts in our lives. That winter could be marital conflict, family conflict, spiritual deadness, loose living, maybe lost friendships, abusive past relationships or present relationships, or maybe winter could be a sports or school related issue. When winter comes no life remains outside, it becomes a cold desert. Our lives become void of warmth, we go through the motions pushing away our friends who are in a summertime period in their life. All the while our heartbeat is becoming more faint with every passing second.  But we don’t have to feel this way. We don’t have to fear the cold desert.

Jesus himself was led into the wilderness and was tempted by the devil; he ate nothing and became hungry (Luke 4:1-13).  At the end of the temptations in the wilderness the bible records in Luke 4:14 that, “Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about him spread through the whole countryside.”(Emphasis added).  Jesus was led into the wilderness and was tempted; after the wilderness (maybe because of or through the wilderness) he returned ‘in the power of the Spirit’.  There is hope for those of us in a desert wilderness.

But why did Jesus come back with power? I know some people face hard times that are not Christian and end up on top too, so what is the difference, what is the reason?  For some of us we question the meaning of life or the reason to live, we have been in the desert so long that we are unsure what it would be like to come out of the desert.  For others we are convinced that the desert wilderness is the only place for us because of things that we have done or are doing now. But the truth is that Jesus didn’t just come out of the wilderness just because of his personal strength; He came out of the desert because He knew what he had to do to bring others out of the desert too.

Later on in Jesus ministry He was betrayed over to those who wanted to kill him. His friends abandoned Him and he was strung up on a cross to be killed (Luke 22-23).  He was buried and rose again on the third day. He conquered death so that we could live! He brought us close so that we could feel his warm embrace. He loves us so much that He accepts us where we are, but He loves us much too much to let us stay that way.

The only hope that leads us out of winter and into spring is the warmth of the Son. Others may seem to have it all together but the only true hope is through Jesus Christ.