The Heartland Awakens

As I sit here this morning in the pre-dawn stillness, all around me America’s Heartland is re-awakening from winter’s long slumber. Gone are the seemingly endless snows of April, gone too, at least for now, are the high temperatures in the 40’s and low 50’s. Over the past several days, they have been replaced with 70’s and 80’s, and while we will probably see a counter attack of cooler temperatures before summer takes hold completely, the warmth is certainly nice to have.

The Great Plains are in the process of being transformed now, fields are being plowed and made ready for spring planting, the daffodils are up, the trees are budding, the lawns have turned from brown to green almost overnight, and the shrubs are suddenly bursting with color to the delight of most everyone.

God has set all this in motion as He does every year. It really doesn’t matter what craziness we humans get up to, God continues to rule over the earth. The seasons come, the fields spring up with new life, the birds sing their songs, and the cycles of life continue.

I take comfort from that.

We get caught up in everything going on in this world around us, it’s battles, its arguments, not to mention its practical necessities. Sometimes we forget that God is really running things, not Man. Even in times of horrible war and conflict, the seasons move forward as they always do, a testament to the fact that God is the King of the Universe, not mere mortals with our short-sighted ways.

Do we ever take the time to notice that− do we take enough time to fully appreciate it?

Do you know what is even more amazing than all of this? The very same God who manages the entire cycle of seasons, and all of the cycles of life, want to have a close relationship with you and with me. Yes, I know, we say that a lot. Yet do we take enough time to fully appreciate what that means?

Well, I guess some more than others, right?

Why not take a little time this Saturday, say an hour or so, and just notice what is going on in nature all around you. You can do that anywhere, even downtown. While we’re at it, why not take a little time this Saturday to thank God for His great faithfulness that He is demonstrating all over with the change of seasons. You know, the seasons are amazing, the changes are testimonies that God who is faithful in nature will also be faithful in keeping His promises to us in every area of our lives.

Oh yes: Today is a great time for giving Him praise and thanks for keeping His promises!