Spring!
I love spring!
The flowers start to pop up out of the ground and show their heads as if peeking to see if it’s time. And then overnight. Boom. They are in full bloom. But each one in its on own time.
Yesterday it was the daffodils. Today it's the tulips.
This is always a sweet reminder of God who makes all things new. In His time, when it’s most fit to be done.
God put eternity in our hearts, but we can’t see the whole scope of His plan. We don’t always see it, or understand it. But if you know God, you know it will be beautiful.
So it was on Calvary. On a cross. For the sins of the world. When all seemed lost. The One they had been waiting for to bring life, died!
But the plan was established from the very beginning. A redeemer. A restorer of life.
Jesus!
And the only way to accomplish the plan was for an innocent, unblemished lamb to die. Blood shed. Poured out for the sins of many.
To us, life can sometimes seem to have zero purpose, very sporadic with no real forethought. Just random acts. But "beautiful" is the way God intended everything to be.
This is the gospel. The GOOD NEWS!
Through suffering we have hope. In death there is life. Through Jesus we are restored!
All of the tensions we experience in life are producing for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. We can’t see what He is doing from the beginning to the end, but we can know it’s beautiful! Even the hard and messy is beautiful in its time.
Even wildfires and hurricanes are beautiful in their time. It is a natural process of tension bringing beauty.
Go ahead, google it. Google "benefits of a wild fire or hurricane."
Here are a few of the benefits I found.
FOREST FIRE:
encourages growth
clears out the dead trees and brush
return nutrients to the soil
HURRICANE:
Provide global heat balance
Break up bacteria and red tide
Replenish nutrients to plant life
The cross is the same way. It is God's way of replenishing and bringing new life. We can find these benefits in the Bible.
Psalm 103:1-5 Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name! Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits, who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy, who satisfies you with good so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's.
Through Jesus' death and resurrection we are forgiven, healed, redeemed, crowned, renewed!
The perfect picture of beauty from ashes!
Going through a rough patch?
Be encouraged!
Everything beautiful in its time!