I saw a daffodil yesterday–a lone harbinger of spring.  Visions of chill-free summer days danced in our heads.  Last week we stored our skis and the snowshoes we never got around to trying out.  And we took our first spin on the tandem down the Legacy Trail, now clear of snow and freshly swept…

But this morning it is snowing, the sky a sheet of white, our mountain view completely obscured by a wall of flakes.  The dependable calendar by the window still proclaims that it is truly spring, but one would never know by glancing out the window!

Isn’t this so much like our sanctification?  We are promised glory, the likeness of Jesus.  But we live in rag-tag bodies bent on sabotaging our pursuit of godliness.  We live in the present continuous tense of waiting.  We— are— waiting.  One day we see a daffodil, the bloom of the Spirit at work in us, evidence of our growth in grace.  The next, a blizzard of doubts, fears and failings obscure our vision.  “How long, Lord?” is our heart’s cry.  How long till these grace-defying natures of ours are consumed in the sunshine of Your face?  How long till our recurring fears and doubts cease to taunt?  How long till obsession with You is the only obsession we know?

Spring has come.  We are made new.  The vestiges of our old nature are shadows that will disappear when we see Christ.  And so we sit out the snow squalls in faith, confident that the seed of an everlasting life is growing in us.  Death cannot hold it down.   Ours is an eternal redemption bought by the One who conquered death once for all.  He will not disappoint.

But now we do not yet see all things subjected to him.  But we do see Him who was made for a little while lower than the angels, namely, Jesus, because of the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, so that by the grace of God He might taste death for everyone—and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?

For the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you through Christ Jesus from the power of sin that leads to death…so, dear brothers and sisters, you have no obligation whatsoever to do what your sinful nature urges you to do…what we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory he will give us later… All creation anticipates the day when it will join God’s children in glorious freedom from death and decay!…But if we look forward to something we don’t have yet, we must wait patiently and confidently.

For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus—And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

Heb 2:8-9NASB; Jn.11:26NASB; Rom.8:2,12,18,21,25NLT; Phil. 1:6NASB; Gal.2:20ESV

–LS