Spring is Coming

 

Scripture

 Isaiah 35

35 The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad,
    the desert shall rejoice and blossom;
like the crocus ² it shall blossom abundantly,
    and rejoice with joy and singing.
The glory of Lebanon shall be given to it,
    the majesty of Carmel and Sharon.
They shall see the glory of the Lord,
    the majesty of our God.

³ Strengthen the weak hands,
    and make firm the feeble knees.
⁴ Say to those who are of a fearful heart,
    “Be strong, do not fear!
Here is your God.
    He will come with vengeance,
with terrible recompense.
    He will come and save you.”

⁵ Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened,
    and the ears of the deaf unstopped;
⁶ then the lame shall leap like a deer,
    and the tongue of the speechless sing for joy.
For waters shall break forth in the wilderness,
    and streams in the desert;
⁷ the burning sand shall become a pool,
    and the thirsty ground springs of water;
the haunt of jackals shall become a swamp,
    the grass shall become reeds and rushes.

⁸ A highway shall be there,
    and it shall be called the Holy Way;
the unclean shall not travel on it,
    but it shall be for God’s people;
    no traveler, not even fools, shall go astray.
⁹ No lion shall be there,
    nor shall any ravenous beast come up on it;
they shall not be found there,
    but the redeemed shall walk there.
¹⁰ And the ransomed of the Lord shall return,
    and come to Zion with singing;
everlasting joy shall be upon their heads;
    they shall obtain joy and gladness,
    and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.  (NRSV)

 

Devotion

 Spring is a season that always fills me with wonder.  One day, everything seems brown and dead.  Then, suddenly the dormant trees burst into gorgeous flowers.  A mere couple of weeks later, what everything is covered in lush greenery.  This year, the change was made even more marked for me than usual, because I took a trip north.  I left North Carolina just as the blooms were dying off to be replaced by tiny leaves and traveled up to West Virginia and Kentucky, where the dogwoods and redbuds were just reaching the peak of their full, riotous glory.  I arrived back in North Carolina late at night a full week later;  when I left my apartment the next morning, scraggly brown hillsides that I had left behind were covered with a lush carpet of green.  It was like the earth's Resurrection had occured while I was asleep.

 It is no coincidence that the prophet Isaiah uses springtime imagery to discuss as a metaphor for the way that the God will help the people through times of bitterness and trial.  Palestine is a place known for its scorching summer heat and its not infrequent droughts.   Just growing enough crops to survive was difficult.  Add in the threat of invasion by other nations, the pervasiveness of disease in the ancient world, and no social safety net as we know it, and it is no wonder that the tiny nations of Israel and Judah were afraid of being completely destroyed.  If God were to withdraw his protection, then a single misstep could spell the people's doom...and God was not happy with the people's actions.  In fact, God had been warning that the people were about to reap the consequences of their sinful actions.  

Isaiah's message here remains one of hope in the face of fear and anxiety.  Yes, the immediate future was going to be pretty bleak, because the nation's faithlessness was going to result in them being attacked and even conquered by other nations. Even so, God would not abandon them.  Just as the spring rains always brought abundant life to even the driest places in the desert, God would eventually save the people and bring them back to a time of joy.  Those who were hurting would be healed.  Those who were faithful during their time in exile would be returned to their homes.  Those who wept in sorrow would once again sing with joy.  The outpouring of God's grace would be so great that it would be like the desert itself had been turned into a marshland teeming with life. 

God's promise to Isaiah has brought me great comfort over the past 14 months.  Pandemic life has often felt pretty desolate, and there have been plenty of times when I have worried that someone or some group I cared deeply for wasn't going to make it through this terrible period.   My heart breaks for each person I know who died or who lost someone special to them...each business that closed for good...each opportunity that was lost forever.  Even in a time of so much grief and anxiety, hope has lived on, because God has not abandoned us. God has remained with us even when COVID cases skyrocketed and it seemed like death was all around us.  And now, it seems like spring just may be bringing with it the opportunity to rejoice again as more and more people become vaccinated and are able to resume some aspects of life that had been put on hold.  The physical, emotional, and spiritual wasteland that we've all been living in seems about to burst into flower.  

We are not out of the woods yet.  If we are to value and preserve life  as scripture commands, then we must continue to make some hard sacrifices.  At the same time, I  (like Isaiah before me) believe that the time of abundance will come again...indeed, that is almost here.  So let us live into the glory of spring.  L of us not to give up hope and look for the signs of new life.  The time of abundance that we so long for may not be fully revealed to us yet.  God alone may be the one who can see when it will arrive.  And yet, if the Easter Season teaches us anything, it is that Resurrection will come.  The time of joyful singing will return.  And when that season finally arrives in all its glory, we will rejoice in the faithfulness of our God.

 

 

Prayer 

God of Abundance and New Life, thank you for the way that each spring gives reminds us that even when things seem bleak, you will never forsake us.  Help me trust in your goodness and find hope in your promise of future abundance.  Open my heart and mind to the signs of Resurrection around me that I can share that joyful news with others.