[Tuesday's Devotional] - Spring

After the winter comes the spring. Some of my favourite verses speak of this.

"My beloved spoke and said to me, "Arise, my darling, my beautiful one, come with me.  See! The winter is past; the rains are over and gone.    Flowers appear on the earth; the season of singing has come, the cooing of doves is heard in our land.    The fig tree forms its early fruit; the blossoming vines spread their fragrance. Arise, come, my darling; my beautiful one, come with me." Song of Solomon 2:10-13 [NIV]

The promise of new life and new beginnings after the bleakness of the winter is such an encouragement. Once we have allowed God to kill off all that was no longer needed or was holding us back, we are ready to go forth and begin to bear fruit again. Slowly and steadily God will begin to plant new seeds in us, whilst still gently tending the land he is planting in. The spring can still be a time of ongoing refinement as God continues to nourish and enrich the soil, but the new seeds are being sown and we can look forward to a time of growth and development. Just as the gardener does not know exactly what will come from the seeds he sows, so it is with us - we are not sure exactly what the new fruits will be, but we can be expectant and excited about what is to come.

The spring still needs gentle care and encouragement as new shoots grow out, and just as new shoots are tender and vulnerable, we can feel the same way too. As we take wary steps into new things we can feel vulnerable and exposed, but unless we press on and are prepared to grow up and out we will never reach the next season of our lives. We will never reach our full potential or bear the fruit we were planted to grow. As we begin to put out our new branches and shoots, God will be there to help us and encourage us to keep on growing. Spring is a time of planting and activity, a time of work and effort to carry out instructions gained in winter, a time of great spiritual and physical energy and a time that great energy is required. It is a time of plowing new and sometimes hard ground and a time to fertilize the soil with prayer.

If you are in your spring – then be brave today and stretch out those new shoots a little further and allow God to gently grow the potential He has planted inside of you.

Corinne Mason