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In Between Life's Ups And Downs



 March. Outside of my wife's birthday, I could do without it. It's a tweener month---stuck between ice fishing and outdoor track meets. If it was a color, it would be gray, like melted dirty slop. Kids I teach get mean in March. They take on two extra hormone drops that can't diffuse fast enough--I break up fights until April when they final I think we must be aware of spiritual March, a tweener time, a time of gray slush. Not "aware" as in able to avoid--but "aware" as in able to endure. An honest Christian must admit to some seasons in a life of faith. None of us can be "up" all the time. Like a cross country runner, we don't always enjoy the challenge of climbing a steep hill or the thrill of a fast descent. We must endure the long flats where it's easy to think about how tired we are. Our spiritual journey is authenticated by these "March" experiences we endure. As the author of Hebrews reminds us, "When I have done all that I can--I stand." It's all we can do when control is not solely in our hands.

Thank God for March. It makes April sunnier. Green grass is greener against last year's dead blades and flowers more beautiful when the snow melts and winter's dirt is rinsed away. When we crawl out of the gray and are washed by a warm sun, life brightens.

Thank God, too, for spiritual March. The Word get sharper when the mind clouds separate. Songs flow after icy feelings melt, and fellowship is sweeter when we drop our isolationist habits.

We cannot do magic to make spiritual flatness disappear. It isn't our place to do so. God allows the seasons--some to rejoice in with gusto, some for raw challenge, and yes, some to endure with grace. These are the most difficult--like March.





About the Author:


 Steve Graner is a Christian educator and familyman employed by the Minot, ND Public School District. A licensed laypastor, he is passionate about Christian writing and Christian drama. Along with family and friends, Steve has performed numerous self-written dramas and musicals for area church audiences.