Just over a week ago, including the last day of last year, I sat down to reflect on the year 2024. As you may already know, I have made this a habit for the past few years. I think getting older has made me a lot more prone to ponder and reflect. It really was not high on my agenda, because I felt that I had brooded enough about the circumstances I found myself in and the diagnosis I was living with. But the thought kept coming back into my head, like a buzzing bee looking for to me to satisfy its thirst.
In the past year, I have learned to really listen up, when a thought keeps coming back over and over again - especially when it is something that will be good for me, but I am resisting it. It usually means that the Holy Spirit is gently nudging me to do something hard. So I finally relented and printed Prepare the Way for the New Year - Moving Forward By Looking Back, a year-end reflection guide by Bette Dickinson. This reflection was made up of 5 parts:
Part 1 - Remember, Part 2 - Celebrate & Grieve, Part 3 - Reflect, Part 4 - Lectio Divina & Guided Imagery: Perceive, and Part 5 - Look Forward. It took me three days of wrestling to complete this journey. And guess what? It was worth every minute of time I spent on it.
Not only did I learn new things about the year 2024, but most of all I learned how much more I have learned to lean on, love, and lament to God! As part of the work I had to complete for Part 5, I had to just spend time with God listening after asking him if he had a specific word or theme for me. Two words surfaced: Season and Delight. The word Season struck me as I was listening to Bette Dickinson read Daniel 2:19-22
During the night the mystery was revealed to Daniel in a vision. Then Daniel praised the God of heaven and said: “Praise be to the name of God for ever and ever; wisdom and power are his. He changes times and seasons; he deposes kings and raises up others. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the discerning. He reveals deep and hidden things; he knows what lies in darkness, and light dwells with him."
As I was contemplating the word Season, I was particularly moved by this dark season that we are currently in during winter, but also the very dark season I finally seem to be emerging from after last year. I am busy reading the book "Here Comes The Sun - Moments With God In The Season Of Cancer", by Joellen Putnam. She describes each part of getting a diagnosis of cancer as a season (Winter - Diagnosis, Spring - Treatment, Summer - Recovery, and Autumn - Transformation). I think that is a very good way of seeing my journey.
The word Season is often mentioned in the Bible: in the creation story in Genesis, in the Psalms, in Ecclesiastes, and Jesus used it many times in parabels he told, just to name a few. Well, the Psalms have become one of my favorite books in the past year, so I found this beautiful verse in Psalm 1:3 (AMP) to go along with that word:
And he will be like a tree firmly planted [and fed] by streams of water, which yields its fruit in its season; its leaf does not wither; and in whatever he does, he prospers [and comes to maturity].
Yes, that is exactly what I want to become like: a strong tree, fed by the Living Water, bearing fruit for God's kingdom and maturing in faith!
But how do I go about becoming like that tree? I need to be in God's Word (the Living Water) daily, I need to be rooted in Christ and sit at His feet to listen and learn, and then the Holy Spirit will equip me to be of service to others. If I let myself be led by God, I will mature. I will not stay the same and I will crave the sweet time I get to spend in his presence even more. So the more I get seasoned, the better any Season I am in will become for me. I don't like getting marinated or seasoned! It doesn't always feel good when God's "salt" cleanses me. But in order for me to grow and be preserved for eternal life, I have to go through this process. There is no easy way out! I am also supposed to become more like him. I am called to be the salt of the earth in Matthew 5:13 "You are the salt of the earth. But what good is salt if it has lost its flavor? Can you make it salty again? It will be thrown out and trampled underfoot as worthless."
The word Delight had jumped out at me earlier in the year-end reflection that I did. Completing a Bible study on the book of Psalms recently has truly taught me the Delight of spending time in God's Word. Not only is it refreshing, but I get to really know God intimately. I have always been in some kind of Bible study since I became a follower of Christ many years ago, but just reading a Psalm at a time now, and writing a letter to God afterwards, was a whole new concept to me. Funny enough, the verse I chose for my lead verse this year is not from the book of Psalms, but from Jeremiah instead. The reason I chose it is because it explains the Delight I experience when I am in his Word.
So that is how Delight impacts the Season I am in with its seasoning!
P.S. If you would like to make the wreath pictured above, click HERE for directions!
Until next time,
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