As winter begins to turn to Spring here in the Channel Islands it is a real pleasure to watch the bulbs that have been lurking underground begin to poke their heads up. Of course they are all just a tad early this year thanks to global warming, but that makes them all the more welcome. They are a timely reminder that no matter how cold and hostile the climate might be, new life and a new start are always just around the corner.We continue with our on-going struggle with pancreatitis in this home. This disease, which can be life-threatening and is one of the most painful conditions known to man, seems to keep coming around like the perennial seasons. Just when we are enjoying a 'Summer' of warmth and freedom, the Autumn sets in to warn us that another attack of Winter is not far away - and of all this cycle can take place over 3 months! Yet, just like it says in the Bible, 'Your mercies, O Lord, are new every morning' and we keep hanging in there, trusting God for strength for today and healing in His good time.
In the biography of a Christian lady whose life seemed to be one long disappointment and frustration, this sentence occurs: 'She made magnificent bouquets out of the refusals of God'. She did not allow the circumstances of her sorrow and pain to turn into the thorns of bitterness and resentment. She grasped instead the tiny shoots of hope and promise that are found in a relationship with God and she held on to them as a way of getting through.
If you are in a winter scene at this moment (and they can be beautiful too for all their desolation) I hope that you can take heart from the thought of all that God has prepared just below the soil, and hang in there looking for better days, praising and trusting Him.
