“I will greatly rejoice in the Lord,
My soul shall be joyful in my God;
For He has clothed me with the garments of salvation,
He has covered me with the robe of righteousness,
As a bridegroom decks himself with ornaments,
And as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.
For as the earth brings forth its bud,
As the garden causes the things that are sown in it to spring forth,
So the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations.” – Isaiah 61:10-11

I love reading from Isaiah 61. I think about when Jesus read the same words of verses 1-2 –the fulfillment of that moment in time. Can you imagine witnessing that moment? After all of the waiting, the moment came to pass, the moment burst forth.

And I think about when we read this passage now, there is still so much coming to life from that very same passage. It’s exciting isn’t it? That’s the word –excitement.

When I read this passage I feel like I’m walking into a celebration. I feel like I’m walking into this breakthrough moment –from the time of waiting, waiting, waiting into the time of everything springing forth, the garden bursting forth in color and beauty.

“No matter how long the Winter, Spring is sure to follow” -Proverb

Over the last few days I’ve been going outside to my flower garden, looking to see if anything new has burst forth. I look to see if there are any new sprouts, and I see many flowers with blooms that should be bursting open any day now.

I love how the Lord compares the mystery of His plans to what we can see and understand here in our lives on this earth. Isn’t that kind of Him to give us such a glimpse?

I’ll leave you with this saying…

“Awake, thou wintry earth –
Fling off thy sadness!
Fair vernal flowers, laugh forth
Your ancient gladness!”
-Thomas Blackburn, “An Easter Hymn”

-Heather ?