Category: Hope

Kathy Geary Anderson > Journal > Hope

The Promise of Spring

Posted on by Kathy Geary Anderson

It’s always a toss-up here in Nebraska when Spring Break falls in early March as to whether our kids will be playing in the snow or enjoying true spring weather. Luckily for us, the latter was the case this year. Whether you traveled for Spring Break or stayed home, I hope you had an opportunity to get outside and enjoy the promise of spring.

Don’t you just love the way God speaks to us through his creation? Psalm 19:1-4 tells us:

“The heavens declare the glory of God;
the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
 Day after day they pour forth speech;
night after night they reveal knowledge.
They have no speech, they use no words;
no sound is heard from them.
 Yet their voice goes out into all the earth,
their words to the ends of the world.”

And again in Romans 1:20, we read:

“For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God.”

Nothing in creation speaks more clearly of God’s power in redemption than the coming of spring. Everything that one day looks dead and cold and hopeless suddenly bursts with new life as the weather warms and spring returns.

My mother died in January of 2007 in the midst of a bitter, snow-filled winter. I can still remember the first spring after her passing. Here’s an excerpt from my journal during that time:

“What a cold, long winter it has been. But today I feel just like the world around me, as if something cold and bleak inside of me is beginning to melt because I keep leaking. I cried when I saw the first crocuses bloom by my gate a few weeks ago. And I’ve been crying ever since. . . . Thank you again, Jesus, for giving us the victory over death. Without that hope, there would be no spring.”

Whatever season your soul is in right now, take time this week to get out and read God’s message to you. The crocuses are blooming again. I’ve seen them. The maple trees are heavy with buds. No matter how bleak or dead or hopeless life seems right now, God is whispering His promises: new life . . . new beginnings . . . and HOPE.

Rest within the Storm

Posted on by Kathy Geary Anderson

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Matthew 11: 28-30

Feeling weary today? Burdened and worn down? Are you struggling to rest but feel caught in a downpour of trouble and pain?

I was caught in a storm last week—literally. You know that gulley-washer that hit last Thursday evening? Yep. I was walking out of Super Target with a full cartload just as the storm hit. (Not great timing on my part.) Needless to say, I was drenched long before I reached my car. The 30-minute drive home that followed was anything but restful. Between water dripping off my hair into my eyes and a windshield that was fogged over on the inside and covered in torrents of rain on the outside, I could barely see. Every few minutes a flash of lightning would strike and thunder would resound all around me. My car wheels kept slipping ever so slightly as they navigated the streams of water and even deeper puddles that were forming on the road.

Any of you facing a storm in your life right now? Maybe the road ahead is hard to see. Maybe you feel like you’re slipping–as if you are merely moments away from losing control. You wonder how you could possibly find rest in the midst of all you are going through. The answer, of course, is trust. Ever marvel at how a small child can sleep in the arms of a parent through the midst of a violent thunder storm? He trusts in the one who holds him.

Today, turn your eyes to the One who holds you. The passages below remind us that our God not only has power to calm the storm, He also delights in bringing his children rest.

Psalm 46: 1-3, 8-11

God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging. . . .

Come and see what the LORD has done, the desolations he has brought on the earth. He makes wars cease to the ends of the earth. He breaks the bow and shatters the spear; he burns the shields with fire. He says, “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.”

The LORD Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress.

Psalm 91:1-2

Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the LORD, “He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.”

Psalm 62: 1-2, 5

Truly my soul finds rest in God; my salvation comes from him. Truly he is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will never be shaken. . . .

Yes, my soul, find rest in God; my hope comes from him.

Mark 4:35-40

That day when evening came, he said to his disciples, “Let us go over to the other side.” Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were also other boats with him. A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?”

He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind died down and it was completely calm.

He said to his disciples, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?”

Psalm 127:2 (MSG)

It’s useless to rise early and go to bed late, and work your worried fingers to the bone. Don’t you know he enjoys giving rest to those he loves?