The God Who Is Making All Things New

Here in the Midwest spring is very slow coming.

We like to share tongue-in-cheek memes joking about the unpredictability of it all—fake spring followed by second winter followed by mud season and so on and so on.

In all honesty, it can feel a bit unnerving.

But jokes aside, spring continues onward, up and down temperatures included and even the occasional snow shower thrown in there for good measure.

And so I’ve found myself these past few weeks searching for those green signs of goodness—both literally and figuratively. On each car ride I persistently peruse the fields and forest lines, pointing out slowly budding plants and the beginning signs of green leaves beginning to bud.

Then just this past trip, I noticed my teenage son doing the same thing, excitedly pointing out a field with long rows of miraculously green tendrils just poking their way up through the soil.

And I can’t help but think how important this is for our spiritual lives, as well. To be people who refuse the temptation to focus on the inevitable dull and ugly parts of our days, but actively look for and search out the good. The growing. The spaces where God is so clearly blessing and bringing about His goodness.

I’ll admit it, there’s still plenty of spaces of brown and very little signs of new life here in our small corner of the Midwest, but here’s what I know—new life is coming.

Our winter seasons don’t last forever—either spiritually or physically speaking.

Instead, we can choose to live as people who truly hope in the Lord, waiting in confident faith until God’s promises take place.

Our spring is coming.

Our growth is guaranteed, even in the spaces that feel hard and unchanging, because we have a God who promises to bring all things together for good.

So we can expect good, search it out even. Hope for it and, above all, hold on to Him through it all.

And in the process may we come to see—we always have a God who is making all things new, including us.