GREAT is Your faithfulness Lord! I’m thanking Him for His steadfast Love this morning, for His unfailing compassions, His Great Faithfulness– but mostly I’m praising Him for the “NEW”! With Spring in the air, new life is all about us, but how about allowing new life to spring FROM us??? No matter where we are at in our lives ~ as helpmeets, mothers, home keepers, ministers, homeschoolers, career women, grandmothers, empty nesters ~ we can experience new compassions every morning in the Lord! We can be re-newed in our minds and hearts! (Eph. 4:23- “to be made new in the attitude of your minds;”) Because of His Love and the greatness of His faithfulness, ALL things can become NEW.
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!” (2 Corinthians 5:17)
I am refreshed when “new” appears in any area of my life. I am energized, excited and happy when I see new growth– when I SEE it. Yet I have noticed that right before the ‘new growth’ appears, there’s a restlessness in my heart, a uncomfortable ‘pressure’ that I can’t describe. I’m unsatisfied as I look around at what ‘appears’ dead or inactive in my life. I call these times my “winter seasons”. They seem cold… and unyielding… and unfruitful. I have to be careful during these times to adjust my perspective, otherwise I might just fail to believe in the Lord’s new compassions, and I might miss the opportunity to sow seed for new growth! It’s important during those times to press in further toward our Father and seek Him for answers, renewed thinking and patience in the waiting.
When I look at a tree in the dead of winter, I know that come Spring it will be showing signs of the life that still pulses within it– I don’t see a dead tree any longer because, in my elementary school teaching, I learned that there was still a whole lot going on inside of that tree even though it looks quite different on the outside. I remember when I was growing up in my childhood neighborhood, we kids used to run through different neighbors’ yards in order to get to each others’ homes for visits and meet ups more quickly. One particular yard I used to run through had a long strip of concord grape vines that grew on the fence that bordered the property. It was common for us to pluck a cluster of grapes in the summer to enjoy on our way over to our friends. In the winter, the beautiful green leaves, clusters of grapes and the heavenly smell that emanated throughout summer was nowhere to be seen– but we never questioned that vine. All of us neighborhood kids knew it would provide our summer snack and its beauty again. This leaves me wondering– why can’t I see that in my own life at times??? Why can’t I just be patient and at rest during the “winters” of my life, allowing God to work His will and tend to me as needed? I believe this is where TRUST in the Lord and His compassions comes in!
“Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed,
for his compassions never fail.
They are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.”
(Lamentations 3:22-23(NIV))
I desire to be a fruitful vine for the Lord. For some reason, this is the analogy that the Lord has always brought me back to. A fruitful wife, a fruitful mother, fruitful in my homeschool, fruitful in the keeping of my home… but I also must rest in the knowledge that His compassions are new every morning because He loves me and His faithfulness is great toward me. It’s equally important to continuing renewing my mind as I endure those winter seasons, patiently waiting for the new growth to appear once again. Just like the tree, I can feel in my spirit the life of God that runs through my “veins”, just like the vine that goes dormant in winter, appearing lifeless, if I trust in the Lord and His tending of me, I can be confident that green leaves and clusters of fruit are on their way again. This analogy applies to any area of life– but the key is to trust in Him and keep allowing Him to tend to us, to keep trusting Him and keep tending to what’s been entrusted TO us.
I have 6 children, 2 of which are adults. I have to keep the balance between my tending and my trusting. Over the years, this has been very difficult for me to do! As a mom, you want the best for your children and you want to faithfully tend to them as you should… but if you’re not careful, you’ll focus too much on the tending and not enough on the trusting. I know I have! Thank goodness for new compassions every morning! The success, or fruitfulness of my life and my family’s life, isn’t solely dependent on me! Yes, I must tend, but I also must TRUST. And then the ‘new’ I’m looking for will come, praise the Lord!
Father, thank you for Your new compassions every morning, for your unfailing love and faithfulness. Help me to do my part, to tend to myself and what you’ve entrusted me with, but help me also to trust in the process and seasons I encounter. Even greater- help me to place the whole of my trust in You and You alone. Help my perspective, renew my mind, so that I can embrace the invisible “growing” that precedes the appearance of new growth. In Jesus Name, Amen.
Completely His, Nicci
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