I wonder if the daffodils ever think God is crazy. Or maybe they wonder if they heard him wrong
that springtime is almost here. I have
to admit I hate, like hate hate, despise this time of year. You know, that time of year when the snow has
melted and you can finally see the ground again, only to reveal the dead vegetation
underneath. There is a blanket of
drabness draped everywhere you look. The
days seem to drag on and on. Yes, I do
indeed HATE this brief period of time every year, from about the end of January
through the first or second week in March.
But then all of sudden EVERYTHING breaks loose and it turns into my
favorite time of year. Everything that I
love happens all at once. Daffodils
sprout up, the trees start to bloom, baby ducks hatch (which is perhaps my
favorite with their fluffy yellow down covering them and their perfectly formed
beaks, and their little curious black eyes looking up at you), it’s like God
yanks that blanket back to reveal all of nature’s beauty. My backyard is one of my favorite places to
be in springtime. I have a tree that
turns the perfect shade of purple and a terraced garden filled with daffodils,
tulips and irises. But today as I gazed
out the window all I saw was a tree that looked dead, a garden that was covered
in brown grass and there was most definitely NOT any springtime flowers. To be quite honest it looks impossible,
utterly hopeless that springtime is near.
But upon closer inspection after I peeled back the dead grass in the
garden there were daffodil shoots just barely poking up. Which means that they have been growing for
weeks. But wait, weeks ago there was
still snow on the ground. Weeks ago
everything was frozen in time. That
means that the voice of God stirred the daffodils when EVERYTHING looked
hopeless. WOW. Thank goodness the bulbs listened and didn’t
look around them at their circumstances and say it’s impossible that something
new is on the way. Maybe that is why I
have always loved daffodils. Faith
flowers. They push through the cold
darkness based on a promise of better times ahead. So whatever it is that you are facing
today. Take a deep breath and know that
springtime is on the way. No, God isn’t
crazy. And yes, you heard him right when
he spoke to you that promise. But long
long before the first shoot of a daffodil ever feels the warmth of the
springtime sunshine there is movement.
The quiet shedding of the old layer that keeps it bound. The new green pushing its way up through the
hardened ground making a way in spite of the lack of physical evidence that
springtime is on its way. So hold tight
to the promise that God has made you even when your eyes cannot see anything changing.
