The calendar says today, March 20th, is the first day of spring for 2023. In North Carolina at 10:00 a.m. the temperature is 36 degrees. Doesn’t sound very spring-like, but at least the sun is shining beautifully.
Even though the temperatures are cold, I see hope arising outside that spring is truly coming.
These early flowers are a little droopy from the cold, but are still making a beautiful showing. And the weeds— the cold doesn’t bother them at all— of course. Sigh!
BUT
“Don’t let the tall weeds cast a shadow on the beautiful flowers in your garden.” – Steve Maraboli
The Daffodils are tolerating the cold. Did you know that Daffodils are poisonous? All parts of the Daffodil are toxic. If swallowed they can cause nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pain, and irritation of the mouth. I’ve noticed the squirrels eat my tulip bulbs but they leave my daffodils alone. I wonder Who made them so smart?
The Lilac bush is blooming.
And the Irises are getting ready for a beautiful display.
The Crocuses were a little cold this morning and closed up tight. That’s exactly how I feel in the cold.
The sugar snap peas, planted in December, are doing well, and they tend to grow better if started in the cold season versus started in later spring.
Then there are some plants that are annuals that actually will not germinate in warm weather. Below are seeds of Delphinium and Larkspur that I started in December and they have been in trays outside all winter long on the deck of my small greenhouse. And they germinated!
There are many sayings about flowers and blooming:
- “Every flower blooms in its own time.” – Ken Petti
- “If every tiny flower wanted to be a rose, spring would lose its loveliness.” – Therese of Lisieux
- “Where flowers bloom, so does hope.” – Lady Bird Johnson
- “To plant a garden is to believe in tomorrow.” – Audrey Hepburn
“While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.” Genesis 8:22 (Take that you Climate Change Activists!)
In Matthew chapter 24, Jesus shares with His disciples the signs of the coming of the end of the world or age as we know it now. He gave them, and us, signs to look for, just as we look for signs that spring is coming. Looking for His coming gives us hope,
just as…
Spring is a hopeful time after a cold, bleak, winter. It represents a promise of new life stirring. In Luke 1:78, Jesus, is referred to as the “Dayspring”. The commentary in my Study Bible says, “The clause should be translated, ‘Dawn from heaven will visit us.’ That is, the Messianic deliverance is often expressed as the bursting forth of a great light.” (p. 1588 of The Thomas Nelson King James Study Bible)
Just as the flowers burst forth in their season, even when the temperatures drop, our Dayspring will one day burst forth on the horizon. Our “cold, bleak, winter” on earth will be finished and we will experience a “new life” in heaven if we have accepted Jesus as our Savior.
But we don’t have to wait until then to have the “hope of spring” and “new life”. If we accept Jesus as Savior now—then—a miracle happens in us.
“Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” 2 Corinthians 5:17
And just as the flowers burst forth in spring, even through the hardships of winter and cold weather, we burst forth as new creatures with the hope of Heaven and the Dayspring in our future.
Our— Hope Of Spring!
Do you find encouragement as you look at the flowers blooming in their season? What takeaways do you have from your experiences?