hope.

I love Spring! I love the weather (until it gets too hot, anyway), the promise of summer (which means a break from school), and all of the holidays. I've decided that I'm much more optimistic when the weather is perfect. Spring brings with it a sense of hope and new life. And yet, as I look around me, I see the loss of hope, that something better is never going to come.

It's easy to understand, really. When we place our hope in things like financial success, monetary value, better careers, and the latest technology, we are sure to be disappointed. It's not as though any of those things have the ability to save us. They may make us happy for a season, through spring, summer, and even into fall. But winter is always around the corner, bringing with it a season of coldness and despair. And that's usually when we realize that the object in which we have placed our hope has, once again, let us down.

Winter is interesting, though. It is a time of fallen hopes, of darkness and despair, of loneliness. But winter is also necessary. During winter, trees lose their leaves and become dormant. If there was no winter, we would also have no spring. What is lost during winter is brought back to life in the springtime.

"From heaven the Lord looks down and sees all mankind; from his dwelling place he watches all who live on earth-- he who forms the hearts of all, who considers everything they do. No king is saved by the size of his army; no warrior escapes by his great strength. A horse is a vain hope for deliverance; despite all its great strength it cannot save. But the eyes of the Lord are on those who fear him, on those whose hope is in his unfailing love, to deliver them from death and keep them alive in famine. We wait in hope for the Lord; he is our help and our shield. In him our hearts rejoice, for we trust in his holy name. May your unfailing love rest upon us, O Lord, even as we put our hope in you." (Psalm 33:13-22)

Placing our hope in Him does not mean that winter is over. Rather, we know that God will be near us through every season. And even when it feels like winter is never going to end, we know that spring will come again. May we rest in His promise to sustain us, to never let us go.