Weekly Devotion March 28, 2024

The Power of Pollen
This time every year we have the unpleasant task of blowing off our back porches. You know what that means, right? Pine Pollen. I’ve lived in Georgia most of my life and I’m still amazed by how much of the yellow stuff coats every surface out there. It settles like snow softening the colors of everything it touches to a dull amarillo haze. When it gets wet you have cheap yellow paint. Using my blower, I fogged out the backyard. My neighbors probably thought it looked like a new mosquito treatment. This unpleasant pollen season is important. It’s part of the beautiful cycle of life God gives us. Perennial flowers burst out of the ground where the last years stems and leaves died. Trees bud out with tender, newborn green leaves. First we have to endure the pollen. We sneeze and cope with watery eyes to make it through the day, but this season is where we understand that nature is renewing itself.

Every year, we learn this lesson from Spring again. Life will be beautiful, but it’s not without some unpleasantness. The season is a symbol of what God can do in our spiritual lives. If you are in a beautiful season of life, praise God while it lasts. I love the days that are sunny and bright with everything going my way. At some point, something will happen that’s a little more unpleasant, possibly more unpleasant than dealing with pollen on a Spring day. It could be an illness, a break-up, or a job loss. Again, I say praise God. Our Lord promises to be with us in the valley of the shadow of death. We have a Savior who will be with us as we walk through death itself. It may be unpleasant at the time, but we have the promise of a beautiful life after the unpleasantness passes away.

So rejoice in what Springtime pollen can teach us. Blow away the unpleasantness with the hope that life abundant and life eternal can be yours. Happy Good Friday and Easter, my friends!

Peace,

Rev. Zack