When you long for color


A snippet of conversation at church resonated with me.

“I really like your purse,” someone said about a friend's floral linen bag.

“Thanks. I changed because I was so tired of black.”

Yes, what she said.

So tired of black, and grey, and brown.

I’m at the point in the year, I’m ready to splash color anywhere I can. That’s coming from a woman who likes dark shades.

While shopping with my daughter recently, I picked up a pair of brightly colored slacks.

My daughter moved beside me. “No, Mom. No.”

She was right. My hind quarters would have looked like a big bubblegum ball in them, but that just goes to show how desperate I am even to consider such a thing.

The good news is spring is close. In parts around here, flowers are poking through the ground and flashing us with promise (Photos taken at the State Botanical Gardens of Georgia).
 

 
 
 
 
 

This craving for color reminds me of a verse in Matthew which Eugene Peterson translates this way. “You’re here to be light, bringing out the God-colors of the world. God is not a secret to be kept. We’re going public with this, as public as a city on a hill” (The Message Matthew 5:14-15).

As we long for brightness when winter grows long, there is a spiritual longing for the colors only God can bring. He alone can ignite the riot of beauty our hearts ache for in this dimly lit world. If we have received him, we are to be the lights shining into dark places bringing out those “God-colors.”

At our church, we’re praying daily during Lent for God to show us who we can disciple . . . who we can help see the “God-colors.”

Winter is almost over. Hopefully not only in our gardens but also in many hearts. Would you join us in this prayer journey?