(This blog was inspired by the spring song Reb hears out her window every morning, as well as a message spoken in 2016 by Pastor David Wilkerson on Isaiah 24, called “In One Hour Everything is Going to Change”.)
I love this time of year when the birds are singing, and the earth is coming to life. Frankly, I am so thankful that we are heading into warmer weather. It is a gift of God’s grace to keep our hearts filled with the hope of life.
This past week our pond started melting. Actually, it has been warm enough to complete its spring thaw. As the harsh, cold water has dissolved into warmth, the sounds of life coming from the pond are truly profound. No noise-cancelling earphones can shut off what spring intends.
Even before the ice was completely gone the frogs started to sing. It seems early this year, but over the years I have lost track of the timing. The spring peepers have not yet aroused from their sleep, but the mating calls of other amphibians are the cries that bounce off our house – and back again into 25 acres of bush – all day and all night.
I love the bird song. I love the life that echoes through our ears at this time of year. It is a promise of life. In a time of sickness, death and financial uncertainty, we need to follow the example of the birds of the sky, and amphibians of water and land.
The ice is melting. Spring is here. Although we may feel the warmth of this oncoming spring more as a burning fire of crisis over our heads, lit and threatening all around our feet, arouse yourself out of the life you have been living, and find a song to sing; a song that calls forth life and hope, love and joy, that yes, is still possible in adversity.
Isaiah 24 from God’s Holy Scriptures tells the story of such adversity. Without cutting and pasting the entire passage here, let’s just say that trouble has come to the earth and it has come to everyone – “priests and laypeople alike, owners and workers alike, celebrities and nobodies alike, buyers and sellers alike, bankers and beggars alike, the haves and have-nots alike.” (See Is. 24:1-3MSG) The earth is laid waste, homes are boarded up and “the gaiety of the tambourines is stilled, the noise of the revelers has stopped, the joyful harp is silent.” (Is 24:8 NIV)
And yet, there is a song that is heard, just like the song that has come to us this spring. A song in the fire of adversity that rises.
But there are some who will break into glad song.
Out of the west they’ll shout of God’s majesty.
Yes, from the east God’s glory will ascend.
Every island of the sea
Will broadcast God’s fame,
the fame of the God of Israel.
From the four winds and the seven seas we hear the singing:
“All praise to the Righteous One!” (Is. 24:14-16 MSG)
This is the hope of those who believe in the Resurrected Lord Jesus Christ. Earth and heaven will fade away but Jesus never fades, and neither does His Word. Jesus stands as King forever, and in the midst of adversity, as winter melts into spring, there is a song to find in the fire, because He reigns and He is with us! He has overcome death. As we celebrate Easter this weekend, this truth could not be more real or more important for us to lay ahold of. It is a truth that rises within us and causes us to say with the ancient believers of old “All praise to the Righteous One!”
So while the past few weeks I have encouraged you to Stay Calm, Find the Next Right Thing to Do, and Remember, today I encourage you to Find a Song in the Fire. Find that song that lifts your thoughts off yourself and attaches to Jesus, the One who once gave His life on a Roman Wooden Cross to show us the way back to God. He is the person who is with you in the fire, and He is also the encouragement of your heart. He is the Rest you need. He is the Prince of Peace. Sing and enter the rest of God. (Words borrowed from the song Enter the Rest of God by Brian Doerksen) Find your song and join the chorus of spring!