I suppose you could say it is the nature of life in these parts—
We set out with earnest hope on a new path.
We withstand challenges.
We bear the scorn of those who do not understand our purpose.
Time does not make our course any easier.
But we go on, fuelled by hope that one day, not very long now, we would finally reach our expectation.
We wait.
And we go on.
And then we wait.
And go on, still.
Hope flickers every now and then.
But just when we’re about to stop fanning the black embers, a wind blows and lends us a hand… just on time.
They call it a miracle.
And then we continue to wait.
And go on.
There truly is safety in what is known;
So we keep circling back to it
Like Peter, going back to fishing, after he’d seen the Son of God crucified by man.
He’d believed in the purpose Jesus had shown them those three years.
But now, as hope flickered, he circled back to what was known….
Until the wind came, just on time, lending him a hand.
It was a miracle—
There was Jesus, the Son of God, crucified, now risen and alive!
Full of compassion, and knowing that we are but flesh, Jesus fanned those black embers to blazing flames!
Now armed with a fuller purpose, Peter, who had only days before, denied his Lord and Master with an oath, trudged on;
No longer taunted by flickering hope,
Or the sense of loss that colours our perception of what could have been if only….
If only—
It’s the place where those black embers are buried when we abandon hope before the wind comes.
But the wind will come.
Miracles still happen.
The things that could have been are not lost causes because our merciful God is still redeeming things, doing new things, and making all things new again.
And so, we go on, still.