At the beginning of each year, there are a couple of questions I ask God. One of those is which Bible verse or passage of scripture will be mine to focus on during that year. In recent years those passages have included Psalm 37:3-9 and Jeremiah 29:11-13, (both awesome scriptures that I highly recommend checking out).
This year the verses that He spoke were Song of Songs 2:10-11:
10 “My beloved responded and said to me,
‘Arise, my darling, my beautiful one,
And come along.
11 ‘For behold, the winter is past,
The rain is over and gone.”
These verses go along with the previous post. It seems that darkness and winter symbolize the same phases of life in many ways. Winter is often seen as the season associated with death, darkness, and difficulty. How wonderful that following each winter we have the season of renewal and growth. Those seeds that fell and were buried in winter spring forth in new displays of life, and the world is filled with vivid colors once again.
I am thankful that God’s word to me for this year speaks of the coming of spring. The winter is past and it is time to “come along”, though I don’t have any idea where I’m going. As I was chatting with a good friend last weekend, she compared my current adventure to that of Abram beginning in Genesis 12. I had never thought about that before, but as I reread the story over the weekend, I do feel a bit like I am living in the footsteps of this hero of the Faith.
From what we see in the Bible, it appears Abram was minding his own business when God showed up and started speaking what many would call “crazy” things to him.
12 “Now the Lord said to Abram, ‘Go forth from your country, And from your relatives, And from your father’s house, To the land which I will show you; 2 And I will make you a great nation, And I will bless you, And make your name great; And so you shall be a blessing; 3 And I will bless those who bless you, And the one who curses you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.”’
I can’t say that God has spoken those last 2 verses to me, but in the words “come along” from this year’s passage, I hear the words of Genesis 12:1. I am leaving my country and my family, and I have no idea what the destination is. For now, I know I have a ticket to Dublin and contacts in Sligo preparing to welcome me there. Beyond that, I don’t know where I will travel or how long I will be away from this place that has been home for a decade. I am traveling one step at a time, trusting that I am headed to a place that God will show me.
I pray that I will be a blessing to those I meet across whatever nations I am fortunate enough to visit or even call home for a time. Whatever doors God opens, wherever they lead, whoever I meet, I am excited for this year of moving forward with God, into a new season. I am thankful for the passing of winter, and I cannot wait to see what is in store as I respond to God’s invitation to “come along”.
Stephnic's Ramblings 