By Sara Pippus
Spring arrived early this year. Still, it crept in soooooo slowly. I’ll admit I watched it closely, day by day, desperate for signs of refreshing. I watched in awe this year as each leaf unfurled and each morning brought new changes. The shifting seasons should be commonplace with no surprises, it happens all the time after all. But after a spirit-crushing winter of mourning my dad, I see spring’s abundance and generosity afresh. Green sprigs struggling up through the warming earth and birds coming home from winter holidays bring a wellspring of joy. As seasons go, spring puts on quite a show from the blossoms and drinkable perfume of the fruit trees to the wobbly-legged calf who seems born knowing how to run. His timing for creation seems to come alive with no starting gun or assistance.
Spring is a true orchestra with each section coming in on the conductor’s cue. First, the honking horns of the Canada goose, followed up by the robin’s solo act. The piece crescendos with every shape and size of winged creatures returning – just in time to scoop up a meal—as the bugs they crave seem to be magically waiting for them. His generous ways extend to everything in His care and He calls it good. Spend the day with Him, see the burst of colour as the sun comes up, let the wind coax you into breathing deeply and stay up late to gaze in wonder at the diamonds He has hung in the dark night sky just for you.
Six days into His orchestra of Creation, God saw man alone and for the first time He says something was ‘not good’. He creates family, He creates emotions, and inspires togetherness all from that moment of not good. We come into the world with a helplessness that screams (literally sometimes) ‘care for me’ and we go out in much the same way. There is a beautiful unfathomable depth in why we love who we do, and all the while, God knows the whole plan for each one of us.
While we so often worry and wonder at God’s plans – His ways are generous, lavish, and overflowing with His love for us. His kind of generosity gives us a mother’s touch, new starts, a gentle rainstorm, love songs, memories, and the colour blue. He puts all this in motion, makes it look like it was always meant to be, and then goes one step beyond. He calls out to us through the blessings and gives us a way to know Him in ultimate generosity. All this makes me want to know Him more.
As I consider this spring, I want to create and share the gifts He has given me. I want to take great care to love generously in the time I have. I want to wake up from my winter’s sleep. I want to see generosity even in the hardest of times and open my heart to live generously knowing it does not reduce the giver but only ever increases it.
2 Corinthians 9:8 –God can pour on the blessings in astonishing ways so that you’re ready for anything and everything, more than just ready to do what needs to be done. As one psalmist puts it,
He throws caution to the winds,
giving to the needy in reckless abandon.
His right-living, right-giving ways
never run out, never wear out.
This most generous God who gives seed to the farmer that becomes bread for your meals is more than extravagant with you. He gives you something you can then give away, which grows into full-formed lives, robust in God, wealthy in every way, so that you can be generous in every way, producing with us great praise to God.