Spring is here! And I am so excited. One thing I love to do when the weather starts to get warmer is to spend time in nature — walking, camping, taking photos, or just traveling to see a new place!
Something I’ve discovered about nature is that it gives us little glimpses into the character of God. Since He created nature, His signature is all over it! And as the long Rochester winter we know all too well ends, we see glimpses of God through one of the most beautiful things to happen in the natural world — spring!
I want to share with you three things that I believe springtime can tell us about the nature of God.
- He is creative… beyond what we can ever imagine.
- He is patient… working on His own time.
- He can restore anything… even what’s been dead.
God Is Creative
Our God is the God of Creation. And springtime reveals so much beauty and vibrancy!
Think of the contrast between a new blade of grass and the white snow as it finally begins to melt. Think of the color of a robin’s egg — so fun and bright! Think of the way the sun slowly begins to warm our skin. It is just beautiful.
And every spring I find myself noticing things in nature I missed the year before. It could be a new kind of leaf, a flower, or even a new type of bird chirping outside my window. God has created more things than we could ever know or imagine — from the smallest ant to the largest galaxy.
God is so creative. His designs go way beyond what we could ever dream of on our own. His plans go beyond what we could ever plan for ourselves.
God Is Patient
Our God is the God of Patience. As those of us living in Rochester know, springtime doesn’t often come quickly. It usually takes longer than we want – a warm day here, a snowy day here, maybe some rain and mud, then back to snow again. All before Spring is officially here to stay!
To those of us who don’t control the weather (which is everyone who isn’t God!) it can be so frustrating and exhausting waiting for the nice weather to break. We want to rush it, and we get discouraged when it doesn’t come in the time that we would want.
But that’s the thing about God — He doesn’t work on our time. He works on His time. And that timing is impossible for us as humans to predict.
“Now faith is the confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. This is what the ancients were commended for. By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.”
Hebrews 11:1-3
Here’s the good news is though. It always comes. Every year. There is always a springtime. And it is always on God’s timing.
God is not in a rush. He is patient because He knows His plan and He keeps His promises. We can rest in the assurance that God will always keep His promises to us, even if they come later or in a different way than we expect.
God Can Restore Anything
Our God is the God of the Living. He causes dead things — even the things we label as “long gone” — to be restored back to life.
Winter is dark, cold, and may seem lifeless. Looking at it through a human lens, it could lead to feelings of despair. How can trees and plants that have lost all their leaves and bear no fruit during the winter ever be full of life again?
And yet, every spring, those same seemingly dead trees and withered up plants begin to grow back. And not just halfway. They aren’t “sort of” alive. They come back fully and completely restored to the full beauty that they had before the winter came. Some even grow back more vibrant than they were the year before!
Every year, God takes what was dead and brings it back to life. He has the power to restore anything — even things we think to be long dead and gone. And He does it over, and over, and over again.
Yes, in the springtime we see God’s creativity, patience, and ability to restore life. It happens time after time, and yet sometimes we find ourselves forgetting. We doubt that our springtime will ever come. We give into the hopelessness that being in a winter season may bring. We feel as if it will never end.
The truth is that we all have our own “springtime” that we are awaiting. It might be a restored relationship, a healing for our minds or bodies, or a revival of our faith. And right now we may be in winter — anxiously awaiting God’s work to renew and restore what has been dead.
Take heart. Have hope. For our God is the God of Springtime!
