Spring is always such a welcomed season. The winters can be longer and darker in some areas. As soon as the weather starts to creep out of the thirties and forties, it seems our spirits soar a little higher. Suddenly, the streets are lined with people walking their dogs, kids are in the driveway, and neighbors wave hello. The sunshine helps motivate us and makes getting out of bed to face a new day a tad bit easier.
But what about when there is no sunshine to be found? When we have a week straight of rain, or the cold hits us in the face each time we go out the door? When it makes grocery shopping and school pick-up a little less tolerable than usual? Maybe it is not as simple as these things. Maybe you are walking through a health or family crisis that seems to be endless. It seems like you are resigned to a permanent state of pain and suffering. The season feels intolerable, and you’ve resigned yourself to this season, giving in to the impossibility of the storm.
“Why am I so overwrought? Why am I so disturbed? Why can’t I just hope in God? Despite all my emotions, I will believe and praise the One who saves me and is my life” (Psalm 42:5).
Our lives would be this way without the cross. Sometimes we can become immune to the sacrifice. When we go through Easter Sunday year after year, we certainly have grateful hearts. However, as we go through the circumstances of life, it is easy to forget that Easter Sunday is not just about one day. Not just about remembering the “story.” Rather, it is about how Jesus’ death on the cross ensured life with him. A life where hope is eternal, and where we are never alone in our winters.
Walking through my struggles with postpartum depression and anxiety, the biggest turnaround for me was accessing hope. Not the kind that was written on my coffee mug, but true hope in Jesus. I was not walking alone; he was with me. He brought people into my life and used the ones already there to encourage me. I did not have the strength to move all facets of my life forward, but he was still working. He could redeem my time, my story, and the purpose of my life. As I surrendered more to him, he showed me continued deliverance. As I was faithful, so was he. Now, there are times where the winter gets dark and even colder. But I know how great my God is—he wastes nothing.
“Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation— if you continue in your faith, established and firm, and do not move from the hope held out in the gospel. This is the gospel that you heard and that has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul, have become a servant.”
Colossians 1:21-23
Therefore, I do not need spring to look forward to something new. I just need to revisit the cross. I do not need the sun to shine, because Jesus is my light. Thank God he brings the spring, but thank God I do not need to rely on a changing season. This Easter, I am reminding myself to let Jesus be my Savior—not the season.
Consider a few extra resources:
