“The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing” (Zephaniah 3:17)
We moved into an apartment with a garden a couple of years back. Since our garden can be accessed by our neighbours, and vice-versa, we have a hedge that grows along the border – serving as a natural demarcation.
During summer, the hedge is simply bursting with fresh, new leaves and is completely green. When winter rolls around, all the leaves are shed and only the stems remain. Both winters I’ve worried at just how “dead” the hedge looks. At the peak of winter, it shows absolutely no sign of life. Not having experienced such harsh weather back in India, I could not imagine new life springing from it in a couple of months. However, new life always springs from that dormant shrub. Come spring and tender shoots peak out of what I’d almost given up hope on.
I love having this silent analogy every time I look out my window.
There are so many periods in my life when I have felt my soul “dry up” within me. It invariably comes after a time of me serving my interests and satisfying my desires instead of being inclined towards the things of God.
I wonder if you can relate.
In times like those, my overwhelming reaction is guilt and shame. I try then to stoke the embers of the dying fire within my soul but fail miserably. It was a long time before I realised my mistake – I was trying to do everything on my own. When I couldn’t spend time with God because it seemed drab and monotonous, I simply resolved to try harder the next day. But as anyone who has tried to stick to an unenjoyable task will attest to, it does not work out very well. Finding myself failing yet again, I would fall into despair and so the cycle continued.
Now I know better.
When I cannot find it in me to spend time in prayer or to read the Word of God how it’s supposed to be read, I send up short, frantic prayers to heaven. I ask God for immediate help. I remind Him of my hopeless state without Him and ask Him for the grace to live a life that is worthy of His love for me. God is not impressed with long, drawn-out, and fanciful prayers that are usually uttered for the benefit of the one who prays. On the contrary, the Lord is quick to respond to prayers that spring from an earnest heart.
Although it might be tempting to lose hope because you fail so often, rest in the knowledge that Christ is such a faithful Savior. He saves us every day from the things that hold us captive, enslaves us, and keep us in bondage. Whenever I feel like I have gone too far away from God by allowing myself to get too occupied in the things of the world, I wrongly assume that He would want nothing to do with me. When I felt that particularly strongly some time ago, the Lord brought to mind my relationship with my earthly father.
Let me explain.
I have lived on a different continent from my parents for over six years now. Every day, I have the joy of being able to talk to them – either on audio or video. One of the things I love the most about having a conversation with my father is that he never hangs up first. After we say our goodbyes, he waits patiently for me to hang up. If I am occupied with something else, he continues the conversation until my hands are free and then waits for me to hang up.
God is a Father much more invested in the relationship He has with His children than my father is.
With God, what moves me to tears is that His love is always so lavish – so extra. He is the Father who loves selflessly and unconditionally. As Romans 5:8 says, “God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners“. He has no qualms in running towards the son who squandered His wealth recklessly and joyfully embracing the child that reeks of pig feed. Your failure and meandering become secondary in the face of His extravagant love.
“God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved” (Ephesians 2:4-5) “Well then, should we keep on sinning so that God can show us more and more of his wonderful grace? Certainly not!” (Romans 6:2). “Don’t you see how wonderfully kind, tolerant, and patient God is with you? Does this mean nothing to you? Can’t you see that his kindness is intended to turn you from your sin?” (Romans 2:4)
Although I wish I never stayed away from my relationship with my Father, I see now that He has taught me lessons from that period too. When we realise how much we are dependent on Him as we walk through this life in faith, it serves to keep us humble. We soberly realise that it is not by our strength that we will finish this race victoriously. Never! It is only by His grace. This revelation helps us regard others who are struggling through eyes of compassion – unceasingly supporting them through our prayers.
I’ll close with the words from a beloved Christian song written by Steve Green, “He Who Began a Good Work in You”.
He who began a good work in you
He who began a good work in you
Will be faithful to complete it
He’ll be faithful to complete it
He who started the work
Will be faithful to complete it in you
If the struggle you’re facing
Is slowly replacing
Your hope with despair
Or the process is long
And you’re losing your song
In the night
You can be sure
That the Lord has His hand on you
Safe and secure
He will never abandon you
You are His treasure
And He finds His pleasure in you
2 comments
Hi Evangeline, thanks so much for your sweet encouragement! I’m grateful for our Father’s deep love and unending grace… and I remember that Steve Green song from many years ago! 🤗 Blessings to you!
What great thoughts to remember when going through a dry spell. Especially to remember His unimaginable love for us! I appreciate your writing love verses to remind us.
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