Have you ever been on a rollercoaster? Personally, they are not for me and yet I know lots of people who really enjoy that feeling of excitement, anticipation and even “yuckiness” caused as the car hurtles round the track and you are lurched from side to side and even taken upside down at times!
It certainly seems like the past year has been a time of ups and downs, hasn’t it? We appear to have lurched from one period of uncertainty to another. Things have seemed to be getting better and then have taken a turn for the worse. We have been confused by the rules put in place and perhaps even been uncertain about what is and isn’t allowed. We have all had our good days and no doubt most of us have also suffered with bad days too. There have been those days when it seemed somehow OK to be confined to home with time to do those things we never normally get the opportunity to do and then other days when we just want to go and do “normal” things – visiting our friends and families, go shopping, a meal in a restaurant or a coffee in a cafe, or even just to be able to sit next to someone we care for and give them a hug. It might seem as if in this difficult time, so similar to being on a roller coaster, we have lost sight of the end of the track and might just be stuck going round and round on it forever... but that is not the case - for in God we can always find hope for the future and surely that is where we need to put our focus.
As I was hanging the washing out today, I noticed all around me signs of life returning to plants in the garden that had previously looked rather miserable and I was reminded that we will be heading into the spring soon. This is often seen as a time of hope as we look to the rebirth of the land in the amazing pattern of the seasons that the Lord put in place in our wonderful world. We might want to wish the spring here sooner but we have to show patience as we wait for warmer days and lighter nights. As James puts it: “Dear brothers and sisters, be patient as you wait for the Lord’s return. Consider the farmers who patiently wait for the rains in the autumn and in the spring. They eagerly look for the valuable harvest to ripen. You, too, must be patient. Take courage, for the coming of the Lord is near.” (James 3:7-8)
What words of comfort – that despite the fact we have to wait we can do so in the knowledge that what we wait for will, at some point, in God’s own wonderful timing come to pass. So, however we are feeling today, may we all show patience as we wait for the current rollercoaster ride to come to an end, knowing that we can always rely on God’s help in everything we are facing. And as we journey through Lent and towards Easter may we once again follow Jesus and listen to what he might reveal to us about what our future might have in store.
Catherine Booton