A Thought for February
Isaiah 43.19 “See, I am doing something new! Now it springs up; do you not see it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.”
I’m writing this after the coldest weather in quite some time yet my mind turns to spring. The world around us will seem to come alive again. For us living in the countryside it’s evident in the buds on the trees; the flowers blooming and sharing their scent. The days lengthen and the warmth of the sun makes us feel more alive. February and March are a reminder that all we’ve dealt with in the harshest winter, the death of plants and the early darkness of the evening time does come to an end. So, spring isn’t just a physical reality of change and renewal but it’s also a sign of a spiritual reality. It’s reminds us how God works in our lives. Whatever is happening in our lives God can always make things new. Someone once wrote, with a touch of poetry, “Just as a barren tree begins to bud or the ground that was once hard and cold becomes soft and fertile, so does God work in our lives to restore what was lost, broken or dead.”
The prophet Isaiah remind us that God is always doing something new. But, like in so many facets of our lives, we need ‘eyes to see, and ears to hear’. We have our personal winters or our own spiritual winters – times of struggle, loss, spiritual dryness etc. We can be confident that God never leaves us. Never! During this past Christmas time I was mourning the death of my dad and all that entails. And, even in the pain and tears, I still felt that God was with me. God so often works through family, friends, parishioners etc. But we need to be aware. Just as God is very much with us in our pain (whatever that pain may be for you or me) and yet sometimes we don’t feel aware of it. But like the change from winter to spring God renews His work in our heart. So as spring gives us hope in the future let us finish with a question: what are the areas in your life that need renewal? What parts of your ‘heart’ seem cold, or dormant?
Trust that God, the creator of the seasons, is at work in your lives; God is making all things new. As we hope for renewal in our churches and our communities etc. remember hope isn’t just wishful thinking, no. Hope is rooted in the faithfulness of our Creator, Redeemer and Sustainer. As the seasons are held in the love of God so are we.
God bless you all,
Love & Prayers.
Revd. Stephen Monk