Bloom in the Snow

Temperatures here in New York have been dipping into the 30’s at night and struggling into the upper 40’s during the day–sometimes! Everything is either brown or brown with a scattered coating of white. So I could hardly believe my eyes the other day when my mom called my attention to the concrete planter on our front step. For Mother’s day, my older sister had given my mom gerbera daisies, which bloomed all summer long and then died (or so we thought) when the frost hit. But there, hiding beneath the broad leaves that were still in the planter, its petals drooping and its head hung low, was a yellow bloom. You can see it in the picture above. It’s not very pretty, it’s not very bright, but it’s there. It’s alive!

Do you ever feel like that gerbera daisy? Struggling to hold your head up in the harsh circumstances of life, feeling like you are barely alive, let alone thriving? Do the chilly winds of pain, grief, disappointment, or temptation droop your spirit? Do you wonder if the “victorious Christian life” is just an illusion?

Let the message of these verses sink deep into your heart. Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the savour of his knowledge by us in every place (2 Corinthians 2:14). Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?…Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us (Romans 8:35, 37). Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good (Romans 12:21).

The Lord Jesus can give you victory even in the most difficult of circumstances. He can strengthen you to endure in the cold winter winds of distress and tribulation. But not just to endure–to endure with joy! Strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power, unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness (Colossians 1:11). Then, as He gives you victory, your life can spread forth to others around you the fragrance of knowing Christ, the beauty of His love and grace!

Recently, while tempted to self-pity and defeat on a difficult day, the Lord brought that verse from Colossians into my mind. I was challenged to not just endure in the tough times, but to look to Christ and seek His strength. It works like this: when I trust God in any and every circumstance, no matter how difficult, He can strengthen me to be victorious in any and every circumstance, no matter how difficult.

While studying joy from Philippians 4 earlier this year, I came to realize that true joy is steadfast confidence in God regardless of the circumstances, as Way of Life Encyclopedia defines it. It’s about putting all our confidence in the Lord and boasting in Him; finding our hope, our peace, our ability to go on in Christ! He is the One Who will get you through whatever you are facing. And not just get you through it. He will bring you through victoriously!

I have been through several times in my life where I felt like I was just surviving. I wasn’t sure I’d “make it” spiritually. But God is good. I did not see it then, but I see it now–He gave victory. He was with me every step of the way, and He brought me out of those times, weary, yes, but not defeated. Victorious. In Him.

So, dear sister, I don’t know what you are facing. I don’t know what is threatening to bring you into defeat and despair. But the Lord does. And He has promised to strengthen you if you’ll seek Him. He may not deliver you from it, but He can and will give you victory in it. Look to Him! Cling to Him! His grace is sufficient, and when you accept that grace, He will make His strength perfect in your weakness. Jesus can do the impossible and give you the ability to bloom in the snow!