Altar Call – Opelika-Auburn News

Walter Albritton

February 14, 2016

 

In the dread of winter we long for spring

 

        Baby, it’s cold outside! It’s freezing every night. Winter is upon us! Wrap up real good before you stick your nose outside. Take the dog for a walk? In weather like this, no way!

Throw another log on the fire! Logs burning in an open fireplace can calm the soul and make you smile as you remember that if winter is here, “spring is not far behind.”

Harsh though winter days may be, they will pass. The daffodils will bloom. Spring will come. The bleakness of winter will surrender to the glory of springtime.

Look again at those barren trees. Look long enough to see those tiny buds on the limbs. Those lifeless trees are playing possum. Those innocent buds will soon explode and multiply into green leaves.  

In the dread of winter we long for spring. But deep down we know it will come. It always has. It always will. And our anticipation of spring is a precious gift we can celebrate – and even cultivate.

We may not be rich but if we have the gift of anticipation we are not broke. Caught in the vice of financial bondage, we can anticipate a day when the shackles will be broken! Without anticipation, that day will never come.

          Relationships may be difficult. Confidences have been broken. Feelings have been hurt. Colleagues are angry. Yet hope is not dead.  Broken relationships can be restored through the painful process of forgiveness. Though it is not easy to ask for forgiveness, we know that life is impossible without a forgiving spirit. So we anticipate healing and when it occurs it feels like springtime.

          There are times when nothing we do seems right. Everything goes wrong at the same time. We feel like out of sync with life. But we refuse to give up – on ourselves or on others. We reach down for a fresh supply of expectation and nurture what we receive. Hope cultivated will grow. Eventually there springs forth a renewed anticipation that better days are just ahead.

          The sweetness of marriage can turn bitter overnight. We can be thoughtless. Stupid comments interrupt the flow of affection. We feel imprisoned by our own foolishness. We remember when love overflowed and our bond was heavenly. We long to recover the tender affection we once enjoyed.

          That’s when anticipation pays off. We expect our brokenness to be healed. Common sense helps us find ways to say, “I was wrong” and “Please forgive me.”  Forgiveness happens. The torment of soul ends and with tears a stronger bond emerges. And when that happens it feels like springtime!

          Check your supply of anticipation. If it has run low, be thankful for what you have. Nourish it. Cultivate it and be patient. Winter never lasts forever. Spring is on the way and the expectation of it will warm your heart on these cold nights.  + + +