Eternal Spring and Forever Flowers

        I’m enjoying the flowers blooming in my yard—lilac, dogwood, and azaleas. After the drab colors of winter the bright ones of spring touch my soul in a vibrant way. Flowers in bloom give me joy, and hope. Yet, the flowers I enjoy today soon fade and die.
        On every side I see the results of sin—death. I long for the day when God will make all things new, and there will be no more death or tears. I long for the day of eternal spring.
        God’s plan for His children on planet earth was garden homes where companionship was enjoyed in an environment of peace and security. I can’t imagine what Eden was like, but my Father tells me that one day He will start over in this world and recreate. We’ll go back to His original plan where pain and suffering will no longer exist. No accidents will happen. No one will be homeless or hungry. Families will be happy. Relationships will be wonderful. Everyone can be trusted. Work will satisfy and be enjoyable, and I won’t get tired. Neither will I have to pay taxes. Time won’t matter. Best of all, Jesus will move His home to this earth and live forever as our King. That will be eternal spring.
        In this time when my flowers bloom briefly, then fade and fall, God’s word abides forever. His words to me are faithful and true. I read in Isaiah 35 of a time when the desert will be full of blooms, and the waste places green from streams of water. Healing will happen and rejoicing will be heard everywhere. “A highway shall be there, and a road which shall be called the Highway of Holiness. . . The redeemed shall walk there, and the ransomed of the Lord shall return and come to Zion with singing, with everlasting joy on their heads. They shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.”
        While these words speak of that time of eternal spring, I believe they also tell me of what God wants to do for me spiritually. He wants my life to be His beautiful flower garden. God is into taking barren hearts and pouring streams of His living Spirit into them causing new life to grow. Even today with the trials and troubles that are a part of life my God puts a song of praise on my lips and joy in my heart. God provides in the beauty of His character the graces of eternal spring in my life.
        These words from to book of Zephaniah are like a bouquet of fresh flowers. “Sing, O daughter of Zion! Shout, O Israel! (Put your name there.) Be glad and rejoice with all your heart, O daughter of Jerusalem! The Lord has taken away your judgments; He has cast out your enemy. The King of Israel, the LORD, is in your midst. You shall see disaster no more. . . The mighty One will save; He will rejoice over you with gladness. He will quiet you with His love. He will rejoice over you with singing.” (3:14-17)
        When difficulties are in your pathway, clouds of sadness darken the sky, and the weeds and thorns seem more prevalent in your garden than the flowers, remember it won’t always be like this. One day flowers, and those we love, will never die. Jesus is coming soon to take us to His home where it will be springtime forever. Until then, listen to Jesus singing about you; rest in God’s unfailing love. Look for the flowers along life’s pathway—I’ve seen them even in winter.

(written in the spring of 2005)