Snowdrops
March is the month when we begin to believe that the flowers will win. Winter may continue to lash out with its ice and snow; but in March, hope takes root. The flowers will win. The sun will triumph. Even on cold mornings and chilly evenings, the wind cannot help but repeat its message: “Spring is coming; all will be well. Spring is coming…”
A Reminder
As I sit and watch the world once more begin tumbling into its spring-time routines. I smile, remembering the impossibility that spring seemed to be just a couple of weeks ago. Buried in the darkness of January and February, spring seemed unthinkable. And yet, with the same annual certainty, spring is drawing near. Every year it seems miraculous and glorious. It is as if God knew we would need a yearly reminder that beauty follows barrenness, glory triumphs over darkness. And the thing is, we do. We do need this reminder. Some years more than others, but we all need a visual reminder of the spiritual reality that glory follows darkness.
Some of you have lived in winter so long you don’t remember the flavor of spring and some of your lives are lives of darkness. Your days are long and your nights even longer. Some of you have lived in a world of heartbreak following heartbreak, the weight which may feel like slow, steadily falling snow. It is so easy in such a life to feel as though you are buried beneath a frosty blanket of hopelessness.
A Snowdrop of Hope
As you look at the future, there may be no signs of a thaw – no signs that life will ever change or at least will ever change for the better. I don’t know your world. I don’t know the winter that surrounds you. And yet, today I want to offer you a tiny snowdrop. Do you know the flower? The small, white flower so seemingly fragile yet with the power to withstand ice and snow and the authority to promise spring. Here in Northeast Ohio, it pokes its little head up late February or early March daring to defy winter and to proclaim that spring is not far away.
This snowdrop I’m offering you though is a flower of a different kind – just as sweet, just as full of hope. It is a tiny little verse nestled within the book of Proverbs – a verse that has comforted me through the winter months of my soul, and still comforts me on nights that have a wintery chill. Proverbs 23:18 says simply, “For surely there is a hereafter, and your hope will not be cut off.” “Surely there is a hereafter…” Truly, there is a day coming… Just beyond, just a little further there is coming the moment when my hope will be my reality. I lift the words of this verse to my nose and let the fragrance of the promise of heaven fill me. “Surely there is a hereafter…” “Surely,” it says, there is coming a spring. There is coming the Great Spring.
In the Great Spring
This hope, the writer of Proverbs assures us, will not be cut off. It will not be crushed. In the Great Spring, I will see her again, my daughter. Our eyes will lock once more. My heart will tremble at the touch of her soft little hands. I will hear her voice. And in the Great Spring, I will see Him. I will finally see Him: my Redeemer and hers. I will know rest. My heart will cast off the struggle, the battle and will breathe at last the air of peace. “Surely, there is a hereafter…” Surely, spring will come.
Do you see the beauty? Do you see the promise of this little snowdrop verse? Whisper it as your world is glazed with ice. Etch it across the frozen window panes of your soul. “Surely, there is a hereafter, and my hope will not be cut off.” Pluck the snowdrop; take the promise and pin it to your heart. There are so many beautiful snowdrop verses all throughout the Bible: Isaiah 25:9, 1 Peter 1:3-4, Revelations 21:4, etc. Take a walk through the pages of Scripture. Gather them. Fill your wintery world with them. Line bouquets of them along the window sill of your aching heart in defiance of the frost that surrounds you.
Oh, the snow may reign for a while yet. Brokenness may continue to dominate your days, but the snowdrop promises of Scripture assure us the flowers will win. Beauty will conquer. The Great Spring is coming. Our mighty God will see to it. He will not let our hope be cut off. For now, gather snowdrops and hold out for spring.
For Prayer Support
If you are seeking support through prayer, please visit our Prayers for You page. We invite you to allow us to pray for you… for your heartache, for your family, for your future or whatever is pressing down on your soul today.