Spring

Song of Solomon 2:12 “The flowers are springing up, the season of singing birds has come, and the cooing of turtle doves fills the air.”

I love the springtime.  I love that the birds have returned to my yard and are taking baths in our sprinklers and bird bath. I love that dormant grass is showing signs of greenness. I love that the apparently dead plants in their pots have little green buds bursting out of stems that look incapable of supporting life.  I love that I can plant flowers and they will stretch their faces to the sun, spreading gladness to all who see them! 

I am told that not everyone wants to plant flowers then sit in a chair with iced tea and admire them…It is quite possibly a sickness…many people do not look upon flowers and grass as if they spread gladness. 

I believe that we are supposed to celebrate new life. Who can drive past a field of little lambs and not say “ah”?  Who can look on a new baby and not see how sweet it is?  Who can watch someone understand and respond to the gospel for the first time and not say “Yes!” followed my an invisible fist pump in celebration?

In the Bible God celebrates new beginnings:  the star announcing his Son’s birth, the worship following the rebuilding of the wall in Jerusalem, the resurrection of Jesus from the tomb.  As we celebrate Easter I want to encourage you to see the signs of new life around you.  Over and over God reminds us that new life is possible; the greatest reminder of that being what Jesus accomplished through his resurrection. Luke 24:5 & 6 (adapted) “Why are you looking among the dead for someone who is alive?   He isn’t here! He is risen from the dead!"

Not just a picture of new life, but eternal life; his for the giving, yours for the receiving.

Isaiah 61:11 “Praise Him! His righteousness will be like a garden in early spring with plants springing up everywhere.”

Bliss

A popular idea is that each of us needs to find our bliss: the thing that makes us perfectly or deliriously happy. Apparently you can find your bliss in chocolate, a spa day, driving a fast car on a curvy road, quiet reflection, or even by watching Oprah!  There are websites dedicated to helping you learn how to find your bliss. Is finding real, actual Bliss attainable? If you are defining bliss as perfect happiness then it is absolutely unattainable. However, if you read further in your dictionary you will find that bliss is also described as “a state of spiritual joy”.  I confess that I have always thought of bliss as being something obtainable through really great dark chocolate, and not obtained through my Savior, Jesus Christ.

Recently I was gathered with other believers and was forcibly struck by the words to the song It is Well With My Soul: “My sin oh the bliss of this glorious thought: My sin, not in part, but the whole. Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more. Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord, Oh my soul.” 

Jesus has put himself between God and our sin; interceding with God on our behalf by dying on the cross and rising again. Isaiah 53:11 & 12 “My servant will justify the many, as He will bear their iniquities….Because He poured out Himself to death and was numbered with the transgressors: yet he himself bore the sin of many, and interceded for the transgressors.”  Have you accepted the work that Jesus accomplished on the cross?

For those of us who know Jesus personally, who believe in His name and have accepted his gift of salvation, bliss is already within our grasp. If bliss is a state of spiritual joy, then we have everlasting, eternal bliss. You can’t obtain it through chocolate, shopping or driving fast. No website can tell you how to get it. It is obtained only through the transforming power of Jesus in your life.

“Behold, the lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.”  John 1:29

In Control

I like to be in control. Most people do.  It’s a joke in our family.  Once when we were driving to church I told my husband that we should stop and get gas.  He thought it was fine.  I pushed it. His response, “I am in control”.  At that exact moment our car glugged and ran out of gas.  I prefer to think that God looked down and said, “Ha! You think you are in control? I will show you who is in control!”

Many things remind me that I am not in control. My son recently got his drivers permit.  I sit in the passenger seat and he chauffeurs me around.  This is the ultimate example of not being in control. I know that I am a more skilled driver than he: I have more experience, more knowledge, and more everything.  However, I choose to sit in the passenger seat and allow him to take us to our destination.  Once in a while I catch myself braking (my invisible passenger side brake) or wanting to steer. I offer “gentle suggestions” like, “I think you don’t want to be so close to that car”, or “people are going to start braking ahead”. I think he would prefer that I simply ride along without giving any direction.

Learning to drive is a lot like learning to navigate the Christian life.  Without a doubt God has more expertise than I do. He’s been through all of the usual life things himself.  He has guided many people before me and will guide many after me. He certainly could offer some gentle suggestions like, “I think you will regret making that decision”, or “people generally don’t prosper when they live that way”. 

Actually, scripture is full of gentle suggestions and commands regarding the proper way to conduct our lives.  Could the Lord take over and get us to our destination with ease? Absolutely. Would we learn much in the process? Absolutely not. We journey each day with our Father who is constantly beside us, offering guidance along the way.  He is like the ultimate Driver’s Ed teacher: he knows all the roads, he knows the destination and he knows what it will take to get there.

Proverbs 3:5 & 6 “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him and he will direct your paths.”