I am ready for spring. I am done sighing at out-of-season tomatoes that taste like cardboard in the grocery store. This long winter has made me tired of being cold all the time, and waking up and dreading the thought of getting out of bed because the air instantly turns my skin into goose flesh.
I know spring always does come, it's just a matter of having to wait for it.
I know a hymn about the tradition of waiting, called Hymn of Promise. One section reads:
"In the cold and snow of winter,
"There's a spring that waits to be,
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"Unrevealed until its season,
"Something God alone can see."
God is faithful. God has created a world where spring does eventually come, every year, as the earth rotates on its axis and around the sun.
God is faithful. That's one of the reasons I believe in God and have found a home in Christianity. God makes us promises and keeps them. I find great hope in that, and I cannot make it through without hope.
When I am having a terrible day or week, I remember God's promises and it gets me through the day. I remember that God loves me and gives me just what I need. Sometimes I need strength, occasionally courage, often wisdom, and always love.
When I look around and see that the world is hurting, that people are hungry, that things aren't fair or just, I am reminded that God desires that things will be different. In time, things will be different. And I find hope in that, too.
Hymn of Promise continues with that hope:
"There's a song in every silence,
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"Seeking word and melody;
"There's a dawn in every darkness,
"Bringing hope to you and me."
When people ask me, "What difference does being a Christian make in your life?," my first answer is always "Hope."
What difference does your faith or spirituality make in your own life?
