Recovering with God

It seems we are now saying goodbye to the summer months – although the warmth has stayed with us longer than previous years! I am amazed how quickly my garden grass has recovered – from being completely frazzled and brown to being lush and green within a few days of receiving rain. Except for an area that experienced a heavy footfall! Nature can recover, but does, of course, need the right conditions to do so. If that grass had been left too long without rain or had been too trampled, it may not come back and would need reseeding. It’s incredible how resilient nature can be – however, anything pushed to it’s absolute limits may not recover. I write this having watched The People’s Emergency Briefing, which captures the emergency of the natural world and how, whilst we do have scope to help it recover, we mustn’t wait too long!

We ourselves can recover from so much, sometimes to our own surprise! Suffering is part of life on earth and certainly something the Bible tells us that we are to endure for the sake of Christ. Jesus of course suffered immeasurably for us, and we like Christ, can enter willingly into suffering if we know these three things: it is for a noble cause, it furthers the common good and, we do it in the strength, and with the love, of Jesus. Isaiah brought us God’s words in chapter 41 verse 10, saying: “Don’t be afraid for I am with you. Don’t be discouraged, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will hold you up with my victorious hand.” How often we forget that we already have the victory with God, because of Jesus Christ. We follow Jesus empowered by the Holy Spirit and if we are on the right path with God our endeavours are victorious – because God is victorious.

So, whatever life sends our way, we can recover, we can find strength, we can be victorious!