Spring is not showing itself yet here. Sure, March 20 marked the beginning of Spring, but we are still waiting for the beginning to begin. And as we all know, hope deferred makes the heart sick. You start to think it will never come. The snow is s-l-o-w-l-y melting, but it cannot melt fast enough. Every increase in degree makes people start shedding in the hopes that warmth will follow. I saw a shirtless man today for the first time this year. The temperature was 40 degrees.
We are not good at waiting up here in these parts. It really isn’t as bad as we make it out to be. Half warm. Half cold. That is how I describe a Wisconsin year. We didn’t start getting snow until the middle of December and it was quite warm well into October. And last year? Not a flake of snow. And it hurt us bad because we didn’t get much rain then either. Even us non-farmers know that it is not a good thing.
So we have a winter this year. It is good. It is lasting longer than usual. We can do nothing but wait it out.
Can you imagine how long those 3 days seemed to the disciples? Their hope died. They had left all to follow this Christ, and now He was gone. Dead. How do you pick up the pieces? Do you pick up the pieces? I am sure they were thinking of returning to the fishing boats and collector’s house. They may have been waiting to return until they could prepare themselves for the barrage of “I told you sos” that they would face. I am sure that those men were disappointed and heart-sick to say the least. I don’t know for sure what they did those 3 days.
But I do know that they waited. The disciples didn’t know what they were waiting for, but something had to happen.
And their waiting was not in vain, because hope returned. Christ returned. They could touch Him and talk to Him and listen to Him. They witnessed a miracle, but more than that, they witnessed the glory of God in the form of God Himself. It was worth the wait, and new life came. In the end, this men would never return to their former lives, never be the same again.
I find myself more often these days saying, “O Lord, how long?” I know that He will return again, because He said He would. Christ has always fulfilled His promises, but sometimes we must wait. There is simply nothing else to be done.
I am looking forward to the full splendor I will see when that day comes. And it is because Jesus did all that He said he would do that I can look up and know that He will come again. Only Christ’s resurrection could provide this hope.
My Jesus Fair
My Jesus, fair, was pierced by thorns,
By thorns grown from the fall.
Thus He who gave the curse was torn
To end that curse for all.
O love divine, O matchless grace-
That God should die for men!
With joyful grief I lift my praise,
Abhorring all my sin,
Adoring only Him.
My Jesus, meek, was scorned by men,
By men in blasphemy.
“Father, forgive their senseless sin!”
He prayed, for them, for me.
My Jesus, kind, was torn by nails,
By nails of cruel men.
And to His cross, as grace prevailed,
God pinned my wretched sin.
My Jesus, pure, was crushed by God,
By God, in judgment just.
The Father grieved, yet turned His rod
On Christ, made sin for us.
My Jesus, strong, shall come to reign,
To reign in majesty.
The Lamb arose, and death is slain.
Lord, come in victory!
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