God Speaking

“See the winter is past, the rains are over and gone. Flowers appear on the earth; the season of singing has come; the cooing of doves is heard in our land.”

(Song of Songs 2: 11 – 12)

We have just experienced here in Vancouver, what one newspaper described as, “a brutal winter”. Other Provinces will protest and regale us with stories of how much worse their winter was than ours, and yes, we are known for our beautiful mountains and our evergreen stately trees, and our usually wet winter, but this year, rain was replaced with violent winds, snow storms and below freezing temperatures. One person was heard to remark, “I don’t know if I will make it through this winter!”

Sometimes our lives feel like we are going through a brutal winter and we may also in despair cry out, “I don’t think I will make it though.” The Lord always hears those desperate cries and always has words of comfort for us, however hard our struggles are. In the Old Testament, God spoke his words through his prophets, but these same words have been preserved for us to turn to when we need to hear that soothing voice.

I love this verse in Hosea which reminds us that the Lord is there beside us, even during those winter times in our lives, but he is also encouraging us to hang in there as he will also bring a refreshing spring to revive us.

“Let us acknowledge the Lord; let us press on to acknowledge him. As surely as the sun rises, he will appear; he will come to us like the winter rains, like the spring rains that water the earth.” (Hosea 6: 3)

Hosea as well as assuring us that the Lord will help us, is also reminding us that we too have a part to play during those challenging times in our lives. Twice he tells us to acknowledge the Lord even when we may be despairing, in fact to be active and pressing on no matter what is surrounding us.

Last week, after I was so tired of this winter weather, I stepped out on to my balcony and to my surprise, on my vine that trails around my trellis, I could see a sprig of green. The vine had stood looking brown and lifeless all though this savage winter, but now new life was springing forth, a beautiful sign of hope.

When the children of Israel were bowed down by trouble and felt they too were caught in the depth of despair, God speaks through the prophet, Ezekiel, and offers them, like my little sprig of green, a beautiful word of hope;

“I will give them an undivided heart and put a new spirit in them; I will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh.” (Ezekiel 11: 19) 

So, if the winter storms of life have left us with heavy hearts of stone, we must press on to acknowledge that we are the beloved children of the Heavenly Father who promises to come and refresh us with his life-giving spring rains.