The Principle of Spring: Life from Death

There is a beautiful principle found in nature: life from death.

Just because it is beautiful doesn’t mean it isn’t hard. Death is painful. Even these stunning trees will watch every bloom die, every fruit wither, and every leaf fall. They’ll be left with a red scar where life once was. And yet, new life will come. Without the surrender to the death of what was there could never be another beautiful Spring.

In our own lives we don’t have the foresight to know what season comes next. We can’t predict what thing in life will bring our “winter” of suffering or the death of what we used to hold. It is painful to have what we’ve known suddenly stripped away and to be left with scars from where life once was. The flood of good things that gave life lie dormant. Winter’s icy chill seems to say new life will never come. And yet, God promises life from death, beauty from ashes, strength from weakness, restoration from brokenness, and joy from sorrow. He’s put His promise all over his creation. Each Spring bears the proof.

I’ve grappled with with trusting God’s hand when the blooms fall, and in the hard things. This past Sunday, in fact, was the first day I’ve gone to church without the trauma of what happened there assaulting my mind. It was the first time in 10 weeks I’ve walked in to worship without feeling like I was going to pass out or throw up and without pain running down my spine or pulsing through my head. It took everything I had to keep doing the next thing and to go at all each week. But I did, because I knew God would be true to His word: He would make something new in me. He helped me do “the next thing”. In worship, I offered him the things I was struggling with that felt like the red marks where green leaves used to be. I couldn’t see when or where Spring would come, but I had to trust is would. My old way of life is gone, and it’s brought pain and suffering in my life. I’ve dealt with things I never imagined. I’ve felt crippled and helpless, like a bare branch in winter. Though I doubt my journey is over, I know He is bringing new life from the brokenness. I’m trusting that the new Spring He has will be better. The death of myself is beautiful, though painful, because it makes room for more of Jesus. If my native blooms fall, I trust He will replace them with Himself.

This is the way of the cross revealed in Spring: life from death. Praise God for the cross, my doorway from sorrow into joy.