In typical Kentucky weather fashion, snow showers poured down this weekend.  Also, in typical fashion, Kentuckians marveled at this unexpected arrival wondering how it could be so cold and snowy when it had been beautiful the day before.  You see, Spring had been whispering promises and giving hope of warmer weather and sunny skies.  Then suddenly, a cold snap, and we remembered it’s not quite spring yet.  This made me think of those things we are believing God for–breakthroughs, new life, provision, resurrection…

     So often we have a dream or a vision or an impression that God is doing something new or we say a prayer believing for Him to answer, and we revel in the possibilities and our faith rises up…spring is coming!  Then, suddenly the very thing we were believing for seems to be out of reach.  Sunny skies are traded for freezing winds.  New life is covered in a frosty blanket of snow, and you wonder if spring will ever truly come. 

     But this is not unusual.  Almost every March we have a brief “relapse” into winter.  Almost every March we see that we aren’t quite into warmer weather yet.  And every March we groan and wonder at this setback.  But it’s not a setback–it’s part of the process.  And, for us, these darker, colder moments where hope seems to be obscured behind a cloud are not setbacks either.  We see it time and time again like the Marches of Kentucky. 

      Moses heard the audible voice of God speak freedom for his people, but also for a Moses looking for the promised land, the wilderness felt like a setback.  Joseph was given hope through an actual dream, but when looking for his dream to come to pass, prison had to feel like a setback.  For the already anointed David awaiting his coronation, his cave hideout must have felt like a setback.  For Mary and Martha waiting for their friend who had healed so many others to come through for them, His delay in coming felt like a setback that yielded a complete loss of hope.  For the disciples believing for heaven on earth, Jesus’ death must have felt like the ultimate setback.   

     But, then.  Then there was spring.  Then there was new life.  Then there was a promised land, a dream fulfilled, a king crowned, a brother healed and resurrection of the one true King.  We must not let cold snaps and wintry moments overshadow the promises of spring.  It’s coming…keep believing for new life, for seeds planted long ago to grow.  Keep hoping for dreams to be fulfilled and prayers to be answered.  It’s coming.  Spring is near.

 

Rebekah is the daughter of Howard and Carolyn Loveland, she is a mother, and she teaches at a Christian School in Somerset, KY.