Spring is my favourite season. When the coldness and barrenness of winter begin to pass and flowers begin to bud and blossom, there is a real sense of hope which rises in my heart. I think of the words in Song of Solomon which bring encouragement and hope to us after the sterility and apparent deadness of winter:
‘See! The winter is past;
the rains are over and gone.
Flowers appear on the earth;
the season of singing has come,
the cooing of doves
is heard in our land.’ (Song of Songs 2:11-12)
Our chillies continue to be the living proof that spring has arrived. Mummy is producing chillies at such a rate we can barely keep up with counting them!
The thing that has gladdened our hearts the most, however, has been the development of Runty’s bud into a real flower:
We await the development of the flower into a chilli, but Runty’s ongoing life reminds us that barrenness does not last forever. As Isaiah reminds us, ‘Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? (Is 43:18-19)
We wait for God’s ‘new thing’ with longing hearts and refuse to believe that winter will have the last word. Just as God’s faithfulness is revealed in the constancy of the seasons (Gen 8:22), we know that He will bring to pass all that He has promised and will do new things in our lives and in the life of our church. Runty’s chillies are taking a lot longer than the others to appear, but we see the signs and know that there is hope. Spring reminds us of God’s faithfulness and that there is a time and season for everything. (Eccl 3:1-8)