Out of Season

Today is a sunny spring day, but one look out the window at the vast amounts of snow covering the lawn, along with the occasional flurries still falling from above, it is clear that the season is not fully realized yet. A quick check of my weather app also points out that it feels like it is only eight degrees outside. This is certainly not how I envision springtime when I think of it. Still, the sun is creeping higher in the sky each day, and soon the warmer weather that comes from its rays will be here. For now, I will have to hold onto the promise prophesied by the birds nesting outside my window, and the birdsong that breaks through my closed windows.

Life does not always feel like it is supposed to for the season we are in. Our circumstances, emotions, and thoughts may not be in sync with what we expect for the timing of our lives. We may feel joyful when we could feel sad, and we may feel discouraged when we have many reasons for encouragement and hope.

Tomorrow is Palm Sunday, the beginning of the most meaningful season of the church year. It is a week I look forward to every year. I know that I will end the week exhausted and ready for some rest, but the power of these days is amazing, and truth they proclaim about God’s love for the world, and for me, is profound. Every service is full of meaning, and the time in between is laden with reasons for reflection, revelation, and expectation.

This year, I confess that I don’t feel very much like the season suggests I should. Like the weather that doesn’t yet appear like spring, I am not overly inspired to wave my palm branches in celebration tomorrow morning. In many ways, I still feel like I am at the very beginning of Lent and that Easter is a long way away. Thankfully, the season does not wait for my feelings to be ready. Instead, it calls out to them saying, “Wake up! The time is at hand! Embrace what is coming for the resurrection is on its way.”

I can only imagine what Jesus felt as he entered Jerusalem that first Palm Sunday. Clearly, he knew where the journey would lead him. The hope of the resurrection must have been mitigated by the reality of his betrayal, and the pain of the crucifixion that were yet to come. The week ahead likely seemed overwhelming, yet he put his trust in God and walked out the path that was before him.

Thankfully, none of us is required to be led by our feelings. We can take every thought captive by the power of the Spirit, and we can choose to live by a deeper connection to the One who promises resurrection, and a stronger conviction that, through Jesus Christ, joy truly does come in the morning. In just a little while, all of nature will declare that spring is here, and in just a little while, the Dawn from on high will break upon us. We may feel out of season, but we are called to wait and believe until it is fully revealed in our lives.

May our Holy Week be blessed as we embark upon this sacred journey with hope in the One who calls us to believe.

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