Fall used to scare me. Not the creepy costumes, sticky spider webs or glucose overdose. What can cause a chill is that the days ahead will be short, dark and cold. And sometimes lonely.
Several years ago I looked outside at the drippy cold November day. I felt damp inside. Overwhelmed. As the rain poured off the rhododendrons, I wasn’t sure if I could endure one more depressing winter.
Suddenly in my mind flashed a bright burst of springy scarlet blooms! It was as if the Lord was saying, “Don’t be afraid. Spring is coming.” And it did.
That vivid scarlet vision, wrapped in His timeless promises, carried me through.
I’ve learned that when I sit with the Lord in the dark in my pain, HE IS THERE. Just as He promised. Along with His peace and comfort.
Now each year as winter draws near I refresh my memory with that hope-filled spring image. It helps not only for the impending physical and emotional winters ahead in this life, but also for the moments I feel wobbly about my eternal future.
Each of us chooses who or what we hang our soul on. The only solid actual historical event worthy of my trust is the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. That was a real physical manifestation of God’s boundless love for us.
His love was written in red.
And just as I believe that He died and rose again for me, so I hang all the weight of my soul and my future on that fact.
As the bright scarlet blooms give me hope for a coming spring, so the blood of Jesus gives me hope for an inconceivably amazing future with my Lord!
And even if the flowers do not bloom, or if _____ (fill in the blank)…, I will rejoice in the God of my salvation! (Habakkuk 3:17-19)
He is my hope!
