I took this photograph last month, at the start of a walk, on a grey, cold miserable day caught betwixt winter and spring.
Huddled in layers under winter coat, with scarf, hat and gloves to keep out the cold, and feeling pretty miserable, I walked past the scene initially, the image registering visually but not cerebrally. A few yards further on, I had to stop and go back to capture the image that my mind had finally caught up with, which illuminated my heart as much as the garden.
The purple periwinkle flowers were so striking against the leafy cover, vibrant amidst the brown earth, mottled stone, and greyness of the drab day. The lack of any other bright colour in the landscape, seemed to accentuate their cheerfulness, sparking joy in my weary winter heart. The radiant blooms, audacious in their flowering amidst the dregs of winter, spoke to me of the wisdom of waiting and watching for the dormant unseen life, that often emerges bravely, quietly and confidently bursting forth at the right time, from the seemingly unproductive earth, the unseen incubator beneath my feet.
Like the periwinkle, tenacious in its hidden winter season yet quietly rooted and earthed in good soil, we too, are encouraged to wait, all the while rooted firmly in God’s good soil, so that when our spring begins, we too may blossom. When winter still feels present within our soul, and it feels like spring will never emerge, the encouragement is to wait on God, so that even in the harshest winter of the soul, our lives still bear witness to the provision of God in our lives.
When our spring does eventually come (and it will) then, like the periwinkle, we too, will bloom, vibrant amidst our surroundings, sentinels of the Saviour's love for his people.
As it says in the Message version of Matthew 5:14-16…
Just as nature points us to the Creator, so too are we to illuminate the way for others, bearing witness and blessing them through the gifts we have been given., and the person we were created to be.
“Light-seeds are planted in the souls of God’s people, Joy-seeds are planted in good heart-soil.
So, God’s people, shout praise to God, Give thanks to our Holy God!