Bloom where you're planted

 The link for this week's live-streamed service is here.

While weeding in my flower bed, I came across a vigorous little plant that had "volunteered" in a poor setting. It grew in soil that was heavy and didn't receive much water. It was crowded in amongst other plants, inhibiting its own growth and theirs.

I wanted my little volunteer to thrive, so I dug it up, with a good root ball, and set it into a different spot, one where it got light and air and water. 

In the way of transplants, my little seedling drooped its head, let it's branches brush the ground and generally behaved like a toddler having a tantrum. It did not trust the gardener.

The next day, however, my plant stood up straight, fluffed up its

leaves and took a deep breath. Now it is coming into bloom. At last it knows that the gardener's plan was meant to prosper it and give it hope.

When I watch the news today, my world seems uncertain and troubled. I worry. I feel overwhelmed. I am fearful. Sometimes I wonder if God knows what He is doing. But my little green plant reminds me that the Master Gardener has a plan, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." The quote comes from Jeremiah 29:11. 

The prophet wrote those words to a nation in exile. King  Nebuchadnezzar had carried off the leaders and artisans and prophets and nobles from Jerusalem and held them captive in Babylon. If ever a people were entitled to question God's plans, the Hebrews of Jeremiah's day were justified in their despair. Yet God did not leave them alone in their exile. He sent prophets like Isaiah. He protected faithful servants like Daniel, and, with the fall of Babylon to Cyrus the Great, the exiles were allowed to return to Israel.  

In their most troubled times, God was faithful to His people. 

My little plant cannot know me or trust me, but we know God. We must trust Him, believe His plans for us are to do us good and not harm. We can flourish in His care.

Ed. Note:  This post grew out a conversation with a friend. Thanks Diane, for planting the seed.

Happy New Year

 The link to this week's streamed service is here

  

 Many of us had hoped that 2021 was going to see the end of the pandemic, but here we are, beginning 2022 with yet another wave and more warnings from public health officers. With Omicron we have to put ourselves in a different mind set. With previous variations the goal was to keep the case count low. With Omicron, exposure is inevitable, according to Dr. Henry. Now the goal is to keep hospitalizations low. The question of the year -- is it safe yet?

    This virus is a test of our patience, our perseverance and our ability to live with the unknown. Uncertainty is anathema to the human psyche. In a 1927 essay, the legendary horror author H.P. Lovecraft wrote that “the oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown.” Decades of research have borne out his thesis. With this pandemic, the entire world is coping with uncertainty and "Uncertainty acts like rocket fuel for worry."   

 One of the New Year's hymns in our Book of Praise lifts gratitude and praise to God as an antidote to fear and uncertainty. 

At Thy feet our God and Father,
Who hast blest us all our days,
We with grateful hearts would gather
To begin the year with praise:

Dr. Kirk, late of this congregation, has written an essay on this hymn where we proclaim the certainty of God's love and His blessings on us all.

The three stanzas of this hymn reflect a kaleidoscope of our human life. The first refers to what has been as we cast our thoughts back over the year that has gone; the second emphasizes the importance of God's love to us in the present; and the third turns our thoughts to the future, the close of this life and the beginning of eternity.

As we contemplate the year that has ended we can see how God has been at work in our lives in many ways. As He promised ( Ps. 119, 105; John 8:12) He has provided light for our path. Mostly we have just enough light to see the next step, what we have to do in the coming hour or the coming day. The art of living is to enjoy what we can see and not complain about what remains in the dark. But not only has He provided illumination for our steps, God has also provided in His love, for our physical needs, granting us our daily bread.

God's great love for us has been demonstrated in its most wonderful form in His sending Hi Son, Jesus Christ, into our world to die for us on the Cross. Confronted with such love, we ourselves are forced to response in love by surrendering our lives to Christ. And when we do so, we have the joy of knowing that Jesus becomes not only our Saviour but also our Friend who accompanies us along the road of life, guiding us as we journey along and acting as our guard against all the enemies and foes who lie in wait to attack us.

If Christ accompanies us on the road of life, there is no need to fear the future because each day will be brightened by His presence. If Christ accompanies us, we need not be concerned about the burdens of life because He will be bearing them with us. If Christ accompanies us, we need not fear death, because we know that He has overcome death and our future is secure in the home He has prepared for us. And so we will trust Him to provide the strength we need to serve Him day by day and we will look forward with expectation to the greater joy of sharing His glory in His kingdom. 

It is human nature to worry, to fear the unknown. The antidote to worry is trust. Let us put our trust in God and greet 2022 with hope and glad hearts.