By Shirley Rosemarie Evans
In the morning you will see the glory of the Lord, because he has heard your complaints, which are against him, not against us. What have we done that you should complain about us?” Then Moses added, “The Lord will give you meat to eat in the evening and bread to satisfy you in the morning, for he has heard all your complaints against him. What have we done? Yes, your complaints are against the Lord, not against us.”
Exodus 16:7-8 NLT
Then shall your light break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring up speedily; your righteousness shall go before you; the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard.
Isaiah 58:8 ESV
It is the beginning of February 2007 it is 4 am and I am sitting on the verandah of the family home in Jamaica. My mother has just passed and my siblings, and I with our children have arrived in Jamaica to prepare for the funeral and bury our mother. There are ten of us packed into the three-bedroomed house. Being together makes the grief easier as we exchange memories, cook, plan, cry and laugh together.
As much as being together is good, I also at times feel the need for solitude to make sense of my grief and to gather myself. It has been a rough two years starting with the breakdown of my marriage, struggling with depression, the financial challenges and adjusting to life as a single parent, yes, the blows just kept coming. This was not how things were supposed to be and now my so full-of-life mother has gone. So here I sit at 4 am wondering how much more I can bear and if God really sees my situation. It is in this quiet hush time that I take note of the morning glory bush.
Morning Glory or to give it its scientific name Ipomoea are flowering bushes that grow from six to ten feet tall. They flower daily opening in the early morning and closing in the afternoon or on cloudy days. My mother had planted a bush right beside the house, and, to be honest, I had never paid too much attention to it. However, in the half-light as day approaches, I notice that the flowers on the bush are opening up. Getting up at four and sitting on the veranda became my thing and each morning I would talk to God through my jumbled thoughts and each day I would watch as the flowers open. After a few days of this, I felt God speaking to me through the beauty of these flowers reminding me of God’s faithfulness and filling me with a sense of peace and hope.
Just as the flower fades during the heat of the day yet is renewed in the cool of the morning so we the children of God can be assured of new mercies every day, He gives us the strength we need to go through. We may have to get in the furnace but know that God is right there with us. God protects us through the storms. Ah, the clouds hang low at times or we wilt under the heat but as surely as day follows night we too are renewed as we continue to trust in God, He is always faithful and He will give us beauty for ashes and turn our dry and dessert places into radiant flowers.
The children of Israel had not long left Egypt when they began to complain to Moses saying that they were hungry and longing to be back in Egypt, but Moses let them know that their complaints were against God. Despite their rebellion a faithful God promised to provide meat for them, and He did just that. Often we want to rail against our situations or circumstances and we might even dare to ask, “Why me, God?” as if it’s OK for someone else to go through but somehow we should be spared. We thank God for His patience, the word tells us that God is faithful even when we are faithless. The word also tells us that without faith it is impossible to please God. We must trust that He is all that He says he is, and that even in the middle of our difficult seasons He is still God.
Ask: Have you ever considered how all creation is a testimony of a faithful God?
Seek: What storms are you currently experiencing and how is God reassuring You of His presence?
Knock: Take a few minutes to listen to the following song or any other favourite song on God’s faithfulness. Reflect on your life and God’s faithfulness. Take time to thank Him.
Great Is Thy Faithfulness / Great Is Your Mercy - Donnie McClurkin & CeCe Winans
(Upper Photo by Amber Malquist on Unsplash)
(Inner Photo by Seiya Maeda on Unsplash)
