At The Core

“There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens.” Ecclesiastes 3:1

 

Spring arrives this week!

What a wonderful time of the year. The earth is warming up and she begins her wonderful display of life.

 

I potted a Wisteria tree a few years back and brought it on our deck to wander up a trellis.  It produces some of the most beautiful, vibrant blooms as the plant awakens from the winter months.  I’ve come to expect that of the plant but I know it has different looks throughout the year. It’s a subtle reminder of God and me.

 

 

“Then he said to me, ‘Son of man, these bones represent the people of Israel. They are saying, ‘We have become old, dry bones—all hope is gone. Our nation is finished.” Ezekiel 37:11

We have those seasons of emptiness, don’t we? The times when all hope seems gone. Marriages are in turmoil. Kids depart. Finances are upside down. Love is elusive. Tears seem to happen more than smiles. And God feels millions of miles away. The blessings just aren’t there.  Dryness and decay seem to be what life is all about.

 

 

 

 

“Light is sweet; how pleasant to see a new day dawning.” Ecclesiastes 11:7

But then the seasons of blooming—the in-between, when emptiness gives way to a burst of life. When God answers a prayer here and there and hope of greatness is on the horizon. Miracles happen. We can feel some of God’s presence in the daily details.

 

 

 

 

 “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”  Jeremiah 29: 11

We have those seasons of abundance, too; the blooms give way to hearty, abundant leaves that sustain us.  Everything grows and flourishes and remains intact; our health, our families, our finances.. We feel God’s blessing upon us continuously. Our prayers are answered. The surface shows life, therefore there must be life.

 

 

King Solomon wrote about the seasons of our lives. Not in age parameters but in life parameters; the ups and the downs, the good and the bad, the empty and the full.

 

My Wisteria tree is such a reminder of God’s grace and love.  I can dwell on the individual times of what I see—barren, blooms, or abundance–but forget to see that in every season, the tree is alive. In every season, there is life pulsing through the branches and stems—no matter what the outer appearance is showing.

 

God is that life.

 

In times of emptiness—He is there.

 

In times of growing—He is there.

 

In times of abundance—He is there.

 

I don’t know which season you are in, but I do know that the Giver of life is there.  You may be basking in the abundance or you may be wondering why all seems lost.  Take heart. What your eyes are seeing is not where God resides. He is down in the center, at the core, sustaining you, growing you.  The season of blooms will come. The moments of greatness will burst through. And then times of abundant leaves will come forward.  Each season is needed to strengthen the tree even more.

 

Find your form of a Wisteria. Look to see the plant that is alive, no matter what the outside is showing.  Keep it close as a reminder. When God is at the center, life remains.

 

“Everyone who lives in me and believes in me will never die.” John 11:26