Does the chrysanthemum envy the crocus? While the spring sun
comes out and brings the crocus to life and color, the chrysanthemum remains
dormant. It is not yet its season.
I have a “crocus” in my life and while I wait and pray and
hope and watch, the sun’s rays are shining down on her, blessings and favor
pouring out on her like spring showers.
Some would look at a friend’s fortune and think, “Why are they so lucky?
Or loved? Or special?” - which is just
one quick, slippery step from “Why am I so unloved? Has God forgotten or
forsaken me?”
To you, I offer this perspective: We all have our seasons –
our “springs” when we feel full of life and hope, our “summers” when God feels
so close and all seems right in our world, and also the “winters” when we have
little but a meager faith in promises as yet unseen. It is the grace and divine timing of God that
we don’t all experience the same season at the same time.
One of the reasons it is important to have others to grow
with is to remind ourselves that God is the same, no matter what season I am
currently in. I may struggle with doubt
and fear during my “winter” until I see the hand of God at work in my “crocus”
friend. I may not feel the warmth of His
rays but I see evidence of His unchanging character and ways, still bringing
the dormant to life in His time.
So, do not envy the crocus…be encouraged by it.
And to you, Crocus – do not hold back in fear
of making us Mums feel bad. Bloom to
your fullest in all of your wonderful color to restore in us the hope of our
own spring.
