Dear Friends,
With so much happening in the world, it has been lovely to enjoy a few days of sunshine and warmer weather. One day, Andy and I were able to enjoy a long walk over the fields and it was really good to see the hedgerows bursting into life, along with all the buds on the trees and even some blossom. The Spring flowers look so beautiful too. The gardens themselves are throwing off the mantel of Winter and the birds are busy building nests.
Seeing all this beauty it was easy to forget about the brokenness of creation – wars, refugees, people struggling to feed their families, sea levels rising, climate crisis…Yet it was into all this brokenness that Jesus came – to bring reconciliation and healing, to make all things new – not the way we want things to be, but the way his Kingship and his Kingdom wants them to be. ‘Through Jesus, God is reconciling all things, by making peace through his blood shed on the cross’ (Col 1: 20).
In a world that so often shuts Jesus out and yet still blames God for all the bad things that happen, he is at work. He bears our angry rants, listens to our laments, and carries our burdens of sadness and fear; and then, when we stop, when we still ourselves long enough to once again become aware of him, we remember that God is God and he loves this world.
We don’t see the fullness of the Kingdom yet, but one day we shall and he promises that every tear will be wiped away. Until then we keep our eyes fixed on him, having him at the centre, not understanding everything but knowing that death does not have the final word.
With love,
Jane