From Bleak To Beautiful

April 18, 2013 — by Julie Ackerman Link

Our Daily Bread Radio is hosted by Les Lamborn

The Lord blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning. —Job 42:12

Bible in a Year:
2 Samuel 3-5; Luke 14:25-35

Spring is the time of year when God reminds us that things are not always as they seem. Over the course of a few short weeks, what appears hopelessly dead comes to life. Bleak woodlands are transformed into colorful landscapes. Trees whose naked arms reached to heaven all winter, as if pleading to be clothed, suddenly are adorned with lacy green gowns. Flowers that faded and fell to the ground in surrender to the cold rise slowly from the earth in defiance of death.
In Scripture, we read about some apparently hopeless situations. One example is that of a wealthy man named Job whom God described as having integrity (Job 2:3). Disaster struck and Job lost everything important to him. In misery, he said, “My days are . . . spent without hope” (7:6). What appeared to Job and his friends as evidence that God had turned against him was just the opposite. God was so confident of Job’s integrity that He trusted him in this battle with Satan. Later, Job’s hope and life were renewed.
The faithful arrival of spring every year comforts me when I’m in a situation that seems hopeless. With God, there is no such thing. No matter how bleak the landscape of life may look, God can transform it into a glorious garden of color and fragrance.

Dear God, we pray for faith anew,
For greater trust in all we do,
For hope that never knows defeat,
For victory at Thy mercy seat. —Brandt

With God, there is hope even in the most hopeless situation.