I'm grateful. All of nature reminds me of who God is - faithful, unchanging, creative, the giver of life.
However, in the midst of all that beauty, there are reminders of death and loss. It is never far away. The same breeze that brings the sweet fragrance of flowers in bloom sweeps through the live oaks, shaking the branches and scattering brown, brittle leaves all over the ground.
So much loss. So much sorrow all around me. Precious lives cut short; loved ones struggling with illness; a dear friend slowly losing all those precious memories once stored in her mind and heart; families falling apart. These are just the ones that touch my life. What of all the suffering and evil in the world around me?
My simple heart longs for Jesus to come and make everything new - like a fresh spring shower washing away the ugly and making all things new. I hear Him whisper,” One day."
You have given us so many gifts, Lord. The gift of free will holds the answer to so many of the "Whys." It places eternity in our hands. You have given us every answer, even the ones we are not wise enough to understand this side of heaven, in Jesus. But we must choose to unwrap the gift and make it our own.
“Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,” for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God.” Revelation 21: 1-3
Blessings,
Linda
