There are some things in life that you could have never imagined. Waterskiing in Minnesota in the middle of March is definitely one of those things for me, yet here I sit watching more than one boat out on Fountain Lake pulling a skier. It is a beautiful 79 degrees out; it’s sunny and feels like a perfect June day. Four days ago the lake was still frozen but with the unseasonably warm weather we have had this week, it only took a day or two to completely thaw the lake and now we have boats and skiers. As I sit here and think about how unbelievable this scenario is I am reminded about two very important life lessons.
God loves to surprise us with unthinkable blessings. James 1:17 states, “Every good and perfect gift comes down from the Father of lights who does not change.” God loves us, He made us in His image, He made to be just lower than the angels –crowning us with glory and honor (Hebrews 2), and He knows the number of hairs on our head (Luke 12) but yet, I seem to forget that God values me and that it is His desire to bring good into my life. I never doubt the goodness of my earthly father, but how is it that God has to continuously remind me that He only wants good things for me. I love surprises and I definitely love surprising the people I care about. I love simple things like unexpected text messages or receiving flowers for no reason. So, why am I surprised that God loves to surprise us with tokens of His affections? Of course God will give us warm summer days in the middle of March because He loves us and wants to continuously show that love to us. Just as I wasn’t expecting a week of seventy and eighty degree weather in the middle of March, there are a lot of things that God wishes to bless me with that I could not even imagine. It took countless years of freezing my butt off to appreciate what seventy-nine degrees feels like March 16th. So I will choose to surrender to the seasons of cold in my life because I know that God is preparing me to enjoy His surprise of warmth and growth in my future.
Furthermore, the circumstances surrounding my life today do not predict what my life will be tomorrow. Merely four days ago you could not see open water on the lake anywhere other than maybe a foot or two around the shoreline, but now there are boats, water picnics, children wearing shorts and tank tops under their life-jackets, and water skiers. Just because the circumstances surrounding my life look bleak does not mean my future looks bleak. God is the God of the impossible. God is capable of turning dreams into reality. Things may look grim today, but God isn’t willing just to leave things looking grim. He is using the harsh and cruel things in my life to refine me, so that He can create beauty and goodness in me. Jeremiah 29:11 says, “’For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you, not to harm you, to give you a future and a hope.’” It baffles me to think about that. God not only KNOWS my future, He PLANNED it. I do not know what the future holds for me. I know where I think God is calling me and what I think He is calling me to, however when I consider the circumstances, I can easily become discouraged because the opportunities seem dreary and impossible. But in just a few days time, God can change nothing into something very big and very real and very promising.
So I will appreciate the weather this week, not only because I wore a cute skirt and flip-flops as I enjoyed an evening walk in the warm air last night, but because seventy degree weather in March is God’s promise to me that He is not done with me and that the best is yet to come!!
