Sometimes the weather affects my mood.
If you find yourself checking the weather app on your device to decide if it’s going to be a good week or not, you know what I mean.
It’s a weakness, I confess. I don’t really understand the science behind it, but it’s always a temptation not to let my attitude darken with the winter skies. I’m not saying it’s on the same level as those who struggle with more serious, and very real, forms of depression. It’s much more subtle than that. It’s more like a low-grade gloominess that tries to creep in and rob my day of its joy. Even so, I still don’t like how predictably my temperament changes with the weather.
So, you can imagine our last winter here in Cyprus seemed endless.
I’ve lived here a long time and I don’t remember any previous one being so dark, so cold, or so wet. It felt like we were stuck in some unending weather system that parked over our island and threatened never to leave. As the blustery weeks and months dragged on, so did the fight not to succumb to the gloomy moods.
I know what some of you are thinking, “Are you serious? Try living in the UK, or Germany or Norway or some country that has real winters!”
While your protests are noted, they only serve to make my point. One of the most attractive things for many vacationing or moving to Cyprus from colder, darker regions is the prospect of the beautiful Mediterranean climate. We are spoiled here when it comes to weather. I, like many who call Cyprus home, have become a bit of a weather snob, and regularly experience the mental wilting that comes from our parade being rained on.
This connection between our moods and weather are one of the reasons why springtime is such a time of festivity all over the world. There is something about the return of life, the dispelling of the cold and dark, that resonates deep within our souls. The longer and colder the winter, the more celebrated spring’s arrival can be.
It’s also one of the reasons why there are so many spiritual associations with springtime. The explosion of life that happens as winter yields to spring finds expression in countless religious systems. Light drives back darkness, life replaces death, new replaces the old. Spring seems designed to illustrate the reality of spiritual renewal.
Consider what Jesus said in the Gospel of John, “I came so that they would have life, and have it abundantly.”
Abundant life! If that’s not the embodiment of springtime, I don’t what is.
But Jesus’ declaration differs extremely from most generic religious versions of this idea.
First, He wasn’t associating ‘abundant life’ with springtime at all, but rather to the laser-focus purpose of His life, ministry and sacrifice. Secondly, He wasn’t saying that ‘abundant life’ was the consequence of a single event, but rather the relationship to a single person, Himself; the Son of God.
In short, Jesus was saying that He came into this world for the purpose of restoring the abundant life God originally intended for us to enjoy. Mankind has systematically broken all of God’s moral and natural laws, and history shows that we have not experienced life as He intended it to be from the beginning. Jesus came to fix that permanently.
By paying off our spiritual debt of sin through His sacrifice on the cross, and defeating death through His resurrection, He has reconciled those who believe to God, and offers us the same resurrection life through the Holy Spirit.
“The one who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.’ But this Jesus said in reference to the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were to receive.” John 7:38-39
Jesus offers us an ‘eternal springtime’ found in relationship with Himself alone. It’s not just a colorful analogy or theological premise. He offers a tangible, explosive spiritual renewal that will reclaim our present lives and carry us on into eternity. This abundant life, this eternal spring, flows forth from within our hearts through God’s Holy Spirit. No darkness can extinguish its light, no cold can diminish its warmth. His life and light always break through. Neither change of location, no weather app notification can take away the spiritual spring Christ has given to those who trust in Him.
By Pastor Tim Mattox
www.calvarycyprus.com
