Signs of Hope: Hurry Up Spring!
I looked at the dead shriveled branches of nearly every bush and tree, and try as I might, that year, I could not even see the traces of tiny buds that promised leaves and warmth to come. I longed for signs of hope and spring.
In our cold Canadian climate, one thing you can always count on is that eventually it will be spring. Yet I found myself wondering in the year 2005, if spring would actually come.
I felt this tragic sense that spring would never actually come. It had been a long season of sickness, and I just could not see the signs of spring.
I needed a hopeful sign.
Now, spring did come that year and I was very relieved. In hindsight I realize that spring was always going to come, but in those moments of exhaustion and depression it felt completely reasonable that there might be a year that spring didn’t make an appearance.
You’ll probably agree with me that my longstanding and difficult circumstances had something to do with how I perceived the coming of spring. Maybe it was earthbound and short-sighted. But here’s a thought: what was God’s perspective regarding my fear of a springtime fail?
God is incredibly concerned with what we see, and how we see it. His desire is that we see like He does.
God knows that His divine perspective is perfect because He is omniscient, omnipresent, and omnipotent. He has always lived in eternity, outside of the restraints of time, and His mindset has always released Kingdom goodness and vibrant life.
This mindset can visualize what will be before it becomes a natural reality. Is there a better life perspective?
Let’s take a step into that mindset for a moment. Imagine with me the Spirit of God hovering over the darkness of uncreated earth (Genesis 1:2-3). Then God spoke, “Let there be light.” What followed God’s spoken words? The intangible became tangible. Light appeared.
If God had asked me what to say in that situation of no earth and only darkness, I would not have known what comes next.
God’s powerful words from God’s powerful and visionary heart created a brand new reality that had never existed before.
You may be thinking, that’s fine and well for God, but what about for humans? We’re not at all omniscient.
You may remember a prophet called Ezekiel in the Old Testament. Ezekiel was faced with a bleak and morose scene: a valley of very dry, very dead bones. And God asked a loaded question to this dear, overwhelmed man, “Can these bones live again?”
Ezekiel had likely never encountered anything like this before in his life. And he gave God a searching reply, “Oh Sovereign Lord, You alone know.” At first glance the answer could seem sassy. But in reality, the prophet did not know the answer, but he was willing to humbly, take a step back to see what God had to say.
Honestly, I need a lot of help to see life like God does. I cannot know how to truly see and create space for God’s good plans to unfold unless I see the way He sees and understand what is in His heart.
God’s desire is to open our eyes to His signs of hope.
And lucky for us, God is kind and loving and infinitely patient. It is His delight to work with me and open my eyes to His realities that are going on all around me.
God didn’t ask Ezekiel a question about what he saw in the valley to shame or condemn. I believe that God asked this question to start turning the wheels of reflection. He was planting a seed of faith.
As we lean into the process of answering God’s question, ‘what do you see’, we begin the reconciling process between what we see and what God sees. God begins to connect the dots between our natural eyes and our spiritual eyes.
God longs to capture our attention and our focus in the middle of it all.
We will know that we have received a sign from God because His hope-filled perspectives will begin the transforming process in our life. Our spirit becomes marked by His welcomed intrusion into our life.
Often, only in retrospect do we fully understand the sign – that’s ok, that’s the beauty of process. He is training our eyes and senses to hear and see by increments.
He gives us signs to remind us of who He is for us in the moment.
These signs become the indicators that point us to God, even afterwards. An Ebenezer that says, “God is more than able, and He is willing to do more than we could ever ask or imagine.”
I am convinced that committing our eyes, ears and heart to God is the starting block, so that we can see, hear and understand His supernatural signs of hope to us in every season.
[This blog post is an excerpt from my book: Signs of Hope Available in 2020]
Copyright (c) 2020 Jennifer Bryant-Choong. All Rights Reserved.
