The last few years have been interesting… I can hear you asking, “Interesting good or interesting bad?” All I can say is, “Yes!”

You know that saying, “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times?” That’s what comes to mind when I think about the path I have been walking in this past season of life. I think these words of Charles Dickens in the opening chapter of “A Tale of Two Cities” sums it up well. The first book of three entitled, “Book the First. Recalled to Life” opens with these words:

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times,

it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness,

it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity,

it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness,

It was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair…”

The reality is I have been in a season of transition. A time of unexpected endings and new beginnings. A time where God has been growing me and challenging me. It has been difficult letting go of good things in order to make way for the new and better things God has for me in this next season of my life. It has required being honest and truthful before God, sometimes feeling exposed and raw and vulnerable. It has been a time of embracing God’s wisdom for the next season; growing in belief and faith to see the impossible becoming possible; a time where I have been required to look grief and pain and fear in the face. As I have done so, I have encountered the “Light of the World” in Jesus, who has brought life to invade and transform the valley of the shadow of death, and I have known that God has been with me to comfort me as I traversed those painful roads. I have found solace in God’s words, particularly as penned by the Psalmists. Psalm 23 has told me that God has “prepared a table before me in the presence of my enemies” and Psalm 37 has reminded me to:

“Keep trusting in the Lord and do what is right in His eyes. Fix your heart on the promises of God and you will be secure, feasting on his faithfulness. Make God the utmost delight and pleasure of your life, and he will provide for you what you desire the most. Give God the right to direct your life, and as you trust Him along the way you’ll find He pulled it off perfectly! He will appear as your righteousness, as sure as the dawning of a new day. He will manifest as your justice, as sure and strong as the noonday sun. Quiet your heart in his presence and pray; keep hope alive as you long for God to come through for you.” (The Passion Translation)

As I have traversed the winter of despair- through the mourning of the death of loved ones, the journey of recovery from a chronic and debilitating health condition, the breaking and resurrection of relationships and a veritable cacophony of disappointments, I have known that God has been turning my winter into the spring of hope and the dawning of a new day. I have fixed my eyes on the promises of God that He has been resurrecting before me and it has been my joy to embrace this season of delight and pleasure in Him. He is so faithful and good and trustworthy. As I have quieted my heart in His presence and prayed and trusted in His kindness and grace and love, He has been directing my every step and He has been birthing His hope within me. I love the phrase “He will appear as your righteousness, as sure as the dawning of a new day” as the Hebrew verb found here is also a word used for giving birth. As we wait on God and follow as He leads- trusting and obeying- He is at work birthing His promises within us.

As I was reflecting recently, I heard God whisper to my heart. The whisper began with, “Remember when…?” Until that moment I had not put it together and it made me stop and ponder. At the beginning of 2014, I was regularly connecting with a group of friends in my home to explore the Bible together. Through one of our studies, we were challenged to make a list of 100 dreams. Say what? One hundred? One hundred dreams?! As you can tell I found that concept somewhat confronting, but I heard God invite me to come away with Him and take up the challenge. So... over the next few weeks (and what turned into months) I deliberately spent time with God to dream. I didn’t worry about logistics or any of the practicalities and I turned down the voices of “you can’t” and “you won’t”, and “you should” and “you have to” and I allowed myself to simply be and dream afresh with God. It’s not like I haven’t dreamed with God before. It’s not like I don’t wait quietly in His presence regularly. But this was different. This was intentional. This was God initiated and God-breathed.

And yet, I had still missed the significance of the moment. In that time of reflection with God, He again spoke, more loudly this time, “This dreaming was one of the catalysts that launched you into your season of being “Recalled to Life”, where I was stripping away everything that would stop you from walking into my dreams for your life, and into your heart’s desires. You know when you commit to doing a jigsaw puzzle and you carefully lay out all the pieces, you sort them and put together the frame and then you slowly fill in all the gaps, sometimes growing weary and not really seeing how the picture is going to come together, but you stick with it and each piece goes in one at a time until finally there’s one piece left? This was my last piece moment. I had known that God was creating something beautiful within me and I had embraced all that God was doing even when it was overwhelmingly difficult. I had collected the puzzle pieces and watched as the picture was coming together, aware that the picture sometimes went out of focus and it often felt like there were people in my world who hadn’t even seen that God was forming a picture within me… but this moment with God tied it all together for me and the puzzle was complete!

I ask you today, “Are there any areas of your life that are not filled with joy and hope and life? Is God inviting you again to come and dream with Him afresh? Have you dreamed and find yourself in a winter that is yet to spring into hope?” I want to encourage you to keep delighting in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart. I know it’s not an easy path to walk, but I’m cheering you on! Let’s take the leap of faith together, because I know the risk will be good and worth it!

As it says in Psalm 27:14:

“Here’s what I’ve learned through it all: Don’t give up; don’t be impatient; be entwined as one with the Lord. Be brave and courageous, and never lose hope. Yes, keep on waiting- for He will never disappoint you!” (The Passion Translation)