Soon the river that runs behind my brother's house in the Midwest will be frozen solid. Visiting for the holidays, I found myself wishing the calendar said spring already. Instead...barrenness.
Still, it was almost as if the bright winter light held a message. Wait. Something new is coming...at the right time.
When you've waited a long time - years, decades - for a dream to be fulfilled, that place in your heart eventually starts to feel desolate.
Maybe, like me, you've waited for a spouse. Barren.
Or a breakthrough. Barren.
Or a child. Barren.
And yet...hope holds on.
I'm not one of those "name it and claim it" Christians. Faith is no guarantee every desire will be fulfilled. But there are some that carry a promise; those ones will come to pass. At the right time.
But how do you know beyond a shadow of a doubt whether a dream is a mere yearning or a sealed promise from God?
At the river bank, I see a glimpse past the barrenness - to spring; forests teeming with new life. And somehow I know, again, that I'm standing on a promise. There is a peace that comes when you trust a matter is settled in heaven.
And you know an introduction is about to be made. Hope, meet miracle.
