When You Least Expect It!
In Alabama, where I live, the wintertime weather temperatures can be quite unpredictable. One year we can have a bundled up Christmas, with temperatures dropping in the teens. The very next year the mercury in the thermometer can swing near 60 degrees pushing up into the 70’s. It makes life interesting having to check the weather forecast to decide whether to wear wool socks or flip-flops. This Christmas it was one of those crazy warm holidays which was surely unexpected! High temperatures put us into the 70s the two weeks surrounding Christmas. Honestly, it just doesn’t feel right, does it? Candles burned replacing a fire in the fireplace and we even grilled hamburgers on Christmas Eve! We wouldn’t get to don our new jackets and sweaters we received as gifts for a number of days. Today I took down the tree which by now was losing its dry needles fast. I walked outside to drag it into the woods. I glanced over and noticed bright yellow blooms coming out of my jasmine bush and even more buds about to pop open. Wait! It’s not supposed to bloom until February! But the warm rays of the sun had fooled the beautiful bush of sticks to bloom prematurely. I could fight and say, “This just isn’t supposed to be!” or I could snip some of the branches and bring the blooms in and enjoy the loveliness of spring in the middle of winter! It seems like spring would be a better time to celebrate the new year with the visibility of rebirth seen all around in nature. But I can’t help but wonder, this year, if the challenge for myself is to see that God can cause blooming and fruit bearing even in the dark, cold and seemingly unproductive seasons. Maybe you feel like you are in the winter of life experiencing less than optimal circumstances for growth and flourishing. If this resonates with you it’s time to look to God, your Creator and purpose-Giver. Is it possible that He just might offer you a place in life of “all things new” and enable you to see, against everything you think and feel, how things can be different? Look to Him. Ask and seek. He is the God of the impossible. He is the One who makes a way when there seems to be no way. He wants to make Himself known more visibly in your life as you look to Him. He can do the unimaginable in the least favorable circumstances to show us the kind of loving and gracious Father that He is. Ask Him for a fresh touch of purpose.
A good friend encouraged me, “We do not focus on what we do not have, nor do we focus on what we cannot do. We focus on what is true of God and what He has said and is saying.”
For we walk by faith, not by sight. 2 Corinthians 5:7
Here’s to 2020 and watching God come through as He promises. He will come through, no matter how all might appear! When you least expect it, expect it!
Connect with us if you want to know more about getting involved with Beacon People in 2020! We’d love to hear from you. Email us today. info@beaconpeople.org
