The Sun, The Seed, and Winter

 

As the seed lays within the earth, beneath the surface of the ground, it lays within the darkness.  The sun that shines is blocked from the vision of the seed.  There lay the perennials in the cold and dark earth, life seems to be nowhere.  Cold.  Alone.  

But life is happening as the seed and the perennial flowers lay beneath the surface.  Life is not visible, but is happening within the seed and root systems.

Winter can seem to go on forever.

Winter can seem to be endless.

Pain can be a loud voice.

Love is vulnerable and opens us to pain, but it also opens us to life.

Memories of happenings past can keep us tethered, hindering us from living fully.  Death drowns out the life we once knew, silence and emptiness can now overwhelm us and it seems like there is no where to go.  Rejection keeps us from offering.

As I listened to the age-old song, titled The Rose, I was reminded that in living there is a dying.  That in the dying it gives way to living and the one who is not afraid to take a chance will learn to dance.  

Winter and death eventually and always gives way to spring and new visible life.  Death gives way to the hope and possibilities of the resurrection.  Fear keeps us in the ground of pain and keeps us from life and living.

So today, if you find yourself feeling like you're buried beneath the dark soil of pain, hardship, and trials; remember Jesus.  Reach for Him as He is wanting to birth life within you.  He only works all things together for good and for life.  In the darkness it is so easy to miss or turn away from the love of Jesus, God's Son.  He can seem so hidden, so distant in those moments.

As the seed gives way and surrenders, life bursts forth.  As you and I surrender to Jesus and because of His love, we find life.

So don't turn away from the Giver of Life and stay buried.  Choose to stay with Him and you will find your way to life. 

Faith is the seed we plant in the darkness and it's what pushes us to reach towards the surface, reaching for Jesus. 

Many times when Jesus healed someone and they also believed Him, He would say, "Your faith has made you whole."

Healing is not only physical.  The truest healing happens deep within our hearts, when in the darkness we reach for the truths that Jesus has given us.  When we find Jesus to be with us, His love, truth, and grace makes us whole.

As the seed becomes the life that is visible, that little shoot of green above the earth's surface, it grows and becomes a bud.  That bud then opens into a flower, the rose, a fragrant blossom.

So too, you and I, as we give way to Jesus our Father, His love warms the ground of our hearts and our faith becomes a bud that opens into a fragrant flower.  The Son's love grows us in good and wholesome ways as we choose Him in each and every situation we find ourselves in.

Winter is not forever.  Spring comes with the warmth of the sun.