Spring Fever
The presence of Redpolls puts our soul in an expectant state of spring fever. They are a supernal sign from heaven, telling us that our world is moving toward resurrection.
Redpolls are the triggers or carriers of spring fever. Maybe you’ve never noticed. The red on their “pole” is a visible mark of spring fever.
It happens every winter. The first flush of spring fever coincides exactly with the timing when these first migrants return back to Alaska from their winter-feeding grounds in the lower ’48. Redpolls return confidently to make their summer home in the tundra and taiga of northern Canada and Alaska.
The red on their head and chest is ablaze with spring fever. An expectant hope and fervor stirs in them. Large flocks of these little finches show up at our feeders every March. They arrive to put us on full alert that we are getting close to the Vernal Equinox.
The first sighting of a Redpoll is a supernal sign from heaven telling us that our world is moving toward resurrection. They bring news from a faraway land that spring is coming. Their serenade stirs the soul with an announcement that we will soon shift into a new season.
The prolonged wait of winter is almost complete.
Dormancy season is folding up its grave clothes as sunlight surges forward and intensifies every day.
Apple trees have reached their required chill hours.
Lupin seeds have been sufficiently cold stratified and are dreaming of putting on their blue bonnets.
The fig tree in our south-facing window is putting on new leaves.
We even had 10 chicks hatch this weekend!
Redpolls are the harbingers of new life.
They are flushed with the wonder of resurrection. They are the carriers of good news.
Think of how similar is the effect of Jesus’ arrival to our world. When you catch sight of Redpolls outside your window, your heart is flushed with hope and expectation. Likewise, the presence of Jesus puts our soul in an expectant state of spring fever.
Jesus put the world in an expectant state of spring fever.
Because of Jesus, we have a confident hope that our world is ultimately moving toward resurrection.
Hebrews 12:2 tells us to keep our eyes on Jesus who endured his suffering because of a joy that was set before Him.
This joy is like spring fever. His joy was forward looking. He knew that death and decay do not have the final word to say. Our world is on a trajectory toward resurrection.
The presence of Jesus is “the new and living way for us to draw near to God” (Hebrews 10:20-22). Because of his suffering for us, we can “draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (Hebrews 4:16).
The Four Gospels are full of stories of what happened when someone’s gaze caught sight of Jesus. One of my favorites is the healing of blind Bartimaeus.
What suddenly stirred blind Bartimaeus to hope for healing?
Jesus was walking down the road near Jericho when this blind man, named, Bartimaeus, caught sight of him, and he called out, “Jesus, Son of David, have pity on me!” The apostles tried to calm him down. They thought he was being irrational and “over the top.” But something inside Bartimaeus was so stirred when Jesus drew closer that he cried louder, “Jesus, Son of David, have pity on me!”
Jesus stops, turns, and asks, “What is it that you want?”
Without hesitation, the blind man says, “I want my sight!”
And Jesus says, “Your faith has saved you.”
The point of this story is that when Bartimaeus caught sight of Jesus, it was not the gaze of a physical look, because he was totally blind. It was the look of faith - with the eyes of the soul. The presence of Jesus triggered a confidence in Bartimaeus that he was in the presence of the King of the new creation, the “resurrection and the life!”
The story of Bartimaeus teaches us the way we are meant to live, with the steady gaze of our soul upon the God who is transforming us from one degree of glory to another.
Jesus triggers joy because He is moving our world toward resurrection.
2 Corinthians 3:18, “And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.”
1 Peter 1:8, “Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory.”
Hebrews 12:1-2 ~ “Therefore… let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.”
Spring fever is the inward longing to experience resurrection.
It’s a deep yearning for renewal and change.
You are blessed. Your soul’s winter is over.
The snows are over and gone. Flowers
are blooming inside of you. The season
of joyful songs has come. To you. [1]
[1] Claudia Mair Burney, in Brennan Manning, The Furious Longing of God (Colorado Springs, CO: David C. Cook, 2009) 135.
Excellent as always
I’m Ready! ❤️