Broken Ground

This winter will go down in the history books as one of the harshest for my state. I stopped paying attention to the weather forecast in January sometime; cold had lost its meaning for me and I just figured it would be easier to adapt to this new normal instead of hope for better.

Even the spring hasn't seemed "springy"...until I saw this.

Little tulips leaves breaking the ground apart. Evidence that we will see warmer days again, or at least tulips. I marveled at the way such a delicate shoot could displace such hard earth. And of course, the David Crowder song Wholly Yours flashed through my mind...

"And a certain sign of grace is this...from broken earth, flowers come up, pushing through the dirt..."

I am also reminded of the many scriptures that promise the restoration of God. Where only cracked, dry ground could be seen days before comes the hope of spring, life in place of death.

I only need look at my own life to see these promises bearing fruit. God has restored relationships that I feared broken beyond repair. He has brought friendship to places that enmity should rightfully exist and laughter in place of tears. I know that the situations that continue to grieve my heart are in His Hands and that He is at work in them.

If you are looking at dry ground that brings forth nothing but dust, look to the God who says to a valley of dry bones, live. (Ezekiel 37:5). Look to God who saves.

Here's the song Wholly Yours by David Crowder...it reminds me not only that God brings forth life from dirt, but that I am the ground and the work of His Hands and that He will fulfill His purposes. He will bring hope to the hopeless and life to the lifeless. Here I am Lord...I am wholly yours.