Some days you just need reminders of hope more than others.
In the darkest, deepest, most barren seasons, the slightest glimmer of hope can melt the coldest sensations of wandering, lost-ness, and despair.
Hope comes like a snow peppered songbird proclaiming that spring is on the way.
This voice of encouragement soars like a bird returning from its migratory season of displacement. He has flown back to his native land to share the good news with those who have been stuck in a season of frightful gloominess, longing for consistently warm days.
The voice of the sweet songbird carries news that better days are ahead. He knows because he has been through seasons much like you are in himself.
He has returned from his displacement and is no longer stuck in a season of dreadful darkness.
He is no longer parked in his nest, aching to make it through the long winter.
He has been lifted to spread his wings once again and reached heights that allow his perspective to see that he is headed toward the newness of spring.
His message sings ever so gently, but loud enough to reach your ears, “It won’t always be like this, dear one, brighter days are ahead.”
We all need songbirds in our lives, don’t we?
We need to know we aren’t alone. We need to know that someone else out there has survived this treacherous journey that we are on. We need to know it will get better. We need to hear it.
There’s such rich fellowship in suffering. In addition, there’s magnificent fellowship in surviving.
The fellowship can come from ancient voices from biographies in the Bible, testimonies turned into hymns and songs, heartfelt stories in pages off the shelves of Barnes and Noble, keynote addresses at conferences or church services, blog posts found through a google search, or catch up sessions over coffee.
Whatever form the fellowship comes through, it is an extension of the merciful touch of God the Father to remind you that you are not alone and that with Him, there is always hope.
Hearing the good news of how one who once walked in shoes that tread a similar path to the one you are presently pilgrimaging held onto hope that carried them through adds strength to the bones to keep moving forward.
Do you need a songbird right now?
Lord knows, I’ve needed a songbird… or even dozens of songbirds during these dark months. I need them still. And oh, how my ears perk up when I hear one singing.
Let me be your songbird in this moment, though, and tell you that it won’t always be like this, dear one. Cling to the Hope of Heaven to guide you through your good days and bad days to the brightest and best days. When Jesus is travelling with you, you can rest assured that the best is yet to come. I don’t mean that in some whimsical, dreamy sort of way. I mean to tell you that it’s true. It really is. I’ve tasted from His best and I know that there is plenty more where that came from.
Do you know someone who needs a songbird right now?
Sing away, friend. Sing gently and loudly. Encourage someone with the hope you’ve held onto that has brought you to a season of renewal. Whistle tunes of God’s faithfulness to redeem bad days and weave them into the story of beautiful days to come.
There is fellowship in suffering and fellowship in surviving.
The world needs less silence and it needs less noise. Sing the beautiful melody to those who can’t fly right now with all that is bogging them down in their season of gloom.
Sing the message of cheer that, “It won’t always be like this, dear one, brighter days are ahead.”
And as you sing, fan upon your audience the winds of truth that have come from the one who rescued your days. Sing the chorus, but sing the verses that explain where your hope has come from as well.
And maybe, just maybe, you’ll start to hear other voices singing along with you as you soar toward the Son, toward the brighter days that He has promised for those whose hope is in Him.
“Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.” Romans 5: 1-5, ESV