First Flowers of Spring

Articles

Lance Byers
03/01/25 - Christian Living

“It’s spring again. The earth is like a child that knows poems by heart.” ~Ranier Maria Rilke

March has arrived, and all-around flowering plants are starting to put forth their leaves and buds. Winter is finally reaching its conclusion, and the sun is starting to come closer to our latitude day by day and currently, the extended forecast shows warmer temperatures until the actual spring equinox.

Solomon wrote that, “For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven.” (Ecclesiastes 3:1) During the dreary, cold, bleak days of winter, there are times when it feels like we will never be warm again; never have the sunshine again; never know the joy of summer again. Solomon continues, though:

a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted;

a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;

a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;

a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;

a time to seek, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;

a time to tear, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;

a time to love, and a time to hate; a time for war, and a time for peace.

Solomon lets us know a truth we all can understand. We all seek the good things and good times in life. That is what we truly live for, but someone once told me an analogy: Life is like a bookcase. There are many volumes, with stories of all kinds to be read. The best times in life, though, are most often not the reams of pages, but the bookends and colorful inserts in the books. The inserts add life and flavor to the tedious day-to-day and the bookends keep all the volumes upright and stable. They may be few and far between, but they do shine brighter than even the darkest of pages between them.

Even the worst parts of our lives are not forever, just like the doldrums of winter. As Solomon states, if there is a time for the sting of death, then there is a time for the joy of birth. If there is a time to toil in planting, then there is a time to reap the bounty of harvest. If there is a time for sadness, there is a time for laughter and joy. And so, he goes on.

Do you ever feel your life is just not going right, or is kicking you while you are down? Not only are you not alone, but there is not a soul of the earth who has ever lived who has not experienced this. During the dreariest days of winter, we may feel there is no hope, but those first buds of spring are coming, and the flowers will bloom again. It just takes the faith to know that God sends both rain and sunshine on everyone and a time for joy will be coming again soon enough.

Lance Byers

March 1, 2025