Signs of spring

Signs of spring are all around us, as new growth pushes its way through the earth and into the sunlight. But will this be the season for personal and spiritual growth? Or are we feeling so dry that it’s as if nothing can break through the hard soil that seems to encase our spirit?

Sometimes we think all the conditions have to be just right for God to work in us. But even in the midst of a season of dryness when we might feel overwhelmed, growth can come. We are far more resilient than we might realise. It’s true in nature—and it can be true for us, too.

Back in 2005, the Amazon rainforest experienced a period of extreme drought that started well before the usual dry season. Based on their understanding of climate models, scientists expected that the forest would ‘brown down’. But to their surprise, as rainfall plummeted, the forest flourished. Satellite imagery even showed that its leafy canopy was becoming significantly greener, indicating that increased photosynthesis was going on. In fact, the areas of the forest that received below-normal rainfall in 2005 also had above-average greenness.

It turns out that in the Amazon, light brings growth—even when some of the requisites for growth, specifically rainfall, aren’t present.

We might think that to have a great and growing relationship with God, we must get everything else in life sorted. If the family is happy, work is going well, church is meeting our needs, the household budget is balanced, and our health is on track, we feel positive enough to turn our hearts toward God and give him free rein.

But the truth is that if we choose to look for the light of God in whatever circumstance we face, our spirit will flourish. Obedience to God is an imperative in every season.

In Psalm 143, King David is feeling feeble and fragile. He cries out to God, saying, ‘Lord, hear my prayer, listen to my cry for mercy; in your faithfulness and righteousness come to my relief.’ David knew that when he didn’t have sufficient reserves of his own to draw on, it was time to access God’s resources and power.

With spirit faint and heart dismayed, David prays. He confesses to God, ‘I thirst for you like a parched land.’ In the Hebrew language, the word ‘thirst’ is actually the same word as ‘weary’—which certainly describes how we feel sometimes, doesn’t it? When I am weary and when it is all too hard … I need you above all else, God.

David goes on to ask God to show him the way to go in his situation. ‘I hide myself in you,’ he says. ‘Teach me to do your will for you are my God; may your good Spirit lead me on level ground.’ That’s a wise prayer for any of us to pray—in the good times and the bad. I want to be obedient to you, God. Show me how to live.

When we feel parched and thirsty for spiritual refreshment, we’re not cut off from God’s power to bring growth and change to our lives. We don’t need to despair, believing we must wait until our external circumstances get sorted before we can experience the refreshment of God. Even during the most difficult of seasons, new life and new growth can come.

By Christina Tyson (abridged from War Cry, 22 September 2012, p3)