Happy Groundhog Day!

I have always liked this folk holiday. The groundhog reminds us that we've reached the midpoint of winter, and if not a midpoint by weather conditions, at least the midpoint as measured by Earth's orbit around the sun.

This year, I am finding a metaphorical application in regard to KatieLyn, the runaway bride. Before she can ever bloom in the way God desires, she will have to emerge from her burrow and poke her nose into the sunshine. One cannot thrive by hiding in a hole.

But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another... 
1 John 1:7

God is all about fellowship. Fellowship, or in twenty-first century terms relationship, is one of the chief reasons that God made mankind. His desire is for companionship, both vertically (God & man) and horizontally (among the saints). The apostle Paul lists the very narrow criteria for breaking fellowship, and Joe, the run-from groom didn't meet any of them.  An entirely worldly "set of rules" was invoked to keep KatieLyn from speaking to her fellow believers and heirs of God's kingdom.

God's word is clear on this. His desire is for KatieLyn to stop being a groundhog and to return to  walking in the light.  In Colossians 1:12 teaches that we should be joyously "giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in Light." Look again at what the inheritance is about: Light! If one's desire is to please God and live as an heiress in His kingdom, then it is a requirement to walk in that light, which includes having fellowship with one another, even if it makes you feel awkward. Awkwardness is not a sin, but neither is it a valid excuse for dealing with life by treating those who have wished nothing-but-the-best for you as if they are untouchables.

So, what does cause fellowship to be broken? (a) Disagreement with God can break fellowship with Him; (b) Disobedience to God can break fellowship with Him; (c) Disloyalty to God can break fellowship with Him. If you are a regular reader of this blog, you will remember that KatieLyn had said that her relationship with Joe had caused her to feel distance from God. But unless Joe was encouraging her to disagree with, disobey, or be disloyal to God, her broken fellowship had another source.

And here is how we can know that was the case: KatieLyn was experiencing the darkness, not Joe. Joe was crystal clear. It is the state of doubts and misgivings that is darkness. KatieLyn had been clear on New Year's when she first heard the Lord. She had been clear on Valentine's Day when she said yes to the engagement. But she began to doubt herself in April and let the darkness in. By May she had greater trust in her mother's misgivings than she had in Joe's clarity. All the while, God had not changed His mind at all. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variation or shadow of turning. James 1:17  
No shadow of turning! No shadow. No darkness.

The Lesson
The folklore about Groundhog Day says that if the woodchuck sees his shadow, he gets scared and returns to his burrow; there is then a long wait for spring. KatieLyn has a lot in common with the groundhog.  She was scared by her own shadow—the image that she herself projected. And she ran home to her old burrow. The hopeful growth of spring has been a long time coming.

The thing that she failed to realize is that the shadow of a dog never bit anybody. She was projecting and running from something that was, in reality, the absence of light.  It is time for her to walk in the light again. It is only in the light that there is redemption.