The Wilderness and Restoration – Day 2

“See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.” ~Isaiah 43:19

The weather is always interesting at this time of year in my little corner of the world. Today is was sunny and the high temperature was recorded at 52 degrees and just 3 days ago is was 30 degrees and we received 10 inches of snow! Rain is in the forecast so hopefully the remaining piles of ugly dirty snow will melt. This is also an exciting time of year, the trees are budding, plants and flowers are pushing up through the soil, stretching towards the sun. It’s beautiful to see nature coming to life. As we progress through this Holy Week we can look to Jesus for new life, an emergence from our sinfulness into a life a forgiveness, mercy and grace all through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The words of Paul cone to mind, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation.” 2 Corinthians 5:17-19. What beautiful imagery, as the plants and flowers burst through the soil, they are a new creation, springing forth in vibrant colors and standing straight and tall…this is also what happens to us as believers at our moment of surrender to God, when we invite Him into our hearts and we accept Him as Lord and Savior. We are new, seeking and stretching to be closer to God. This season of Lent has been an awakening for me and a time of contemplation and in many ways I am finding myself stretching and reaching for more than the typical “give something up for lent.” This year I’ve have been blessed to attend a Lenten bible study that challenged me and my thought process of experiencing Lent in a new way.  Sharing my thoughts through this blog has brought me true joy and the support I have received is humbling. The pamphlet I have been utilizing as a guide has been educational for me, I love the theme of the wilderness and how it has paralleled the wilderness journey of the Israelites and the devils temptation of Jesus in the wilderness. My devotional time has deepened and my thirst for the Word of God has been most satisfying. I’ve learned some self-discipline and self-awareness of where my life is at, where I want my life to go and how I might achieve these aspirations. I have truly enjoyed sharing my thoughts with all of you that have been faithful followers and to my new followers, I thank God for the opportunity to connect.

Our life experiences and our travels are a shining example of God’s extravagant love He has for each of us. None of our lives are exactly the same, just the way God had planned it to be, this is why I think it’s a great idea to talk with one another and seek commonality and collaboration in living the best life we can for God, to spread the love of Jesus, to show compassion and humility for one another. When thinking about this week and the experiences that Jesus encountered during Passover, many years ago, it is heart wrenching and unfortunately believable that people loved him one day and then a few days later, shout and demand his crucifixion. Jesus was called a teacher/rabbi one day and the next day a blasphemer.  Jesus knew and accepted the consequences of reconciling humanity with God the creator. Sadly, the way people treated Jesus, all those years ago, we as a society have not changed all that much. This world is infected with sin and self, people judge with no evidence and people are often misunderstood for a variety of reasons, and rarely have anything to do with the situation or issue at hand, because it’s easier to cause harm than to create harmony.  I don’t believe change will come from a big platform or by a national march or through boycotting, I believe the answers are so much more simple than all these methods and the advice has been around for thousands of years, and was spoken by Jesus himself, “Love your neighbor as you love yourself.” ~Matthew 22:39 and Mark 12:31. It’s really that simple. I want to share a sentence the author’s pamphlet in closing, “There is so much life in this world that is just beneath the surface, ready to burst forth.” ~Katie Z. Dawson

“Where do you look for signs of life?”

Breath Prayer: Let this wilderness rejoice and bloom.

~Blessings and Peace~

References:
https://www.biblegateway.com
Pamphlet: The Sanctuary For Lent (By: Katie Z. Dawson)