2017 gone, 2018 gone… 2019 almost over
With the coming of the New year comes the quest for new resolutions, fresh plans and ambitions and as we approach the end of the current year it may bring mixed feelings especially with only a few weeks left before its completion.
The seductive whisper of the promise of a bigger, better, brighter future.
But what happens if it feels like it has been a year or even years of unanswered desires and seemingly unrelenting disappointment? No growth. No forward movement.
Just the bitter taste of stagnation and the ache of loss from much longed aspirations that never materialised.
What happens when the dreams that you have given your body, mind and soul to don’t turn into reality, and the days relentlessly march on?
In the dark room of unfulfilled desires, can the candle of hope still shine and be more than a myth or the words of a spiritual hymn?
In the valley of the shadow of seemingly never-ending disappointment and yet to be fulfilled dreams, can there truly be hope for my future, your future, that career, that dream, that marriage, that much desired child, that good health that is now but a faded memory?
Each of us reading this would have lost a family member, a friend, someone we cared about or even just knew over the last few years. Perhaps some months ago, last week or even today.
As one life takes its last breath, another takes it’s first.
In the same vain many of us will know of babies born this year or even yesterday. New beginnings for these fresh arrivals, swaddled in hope. New lives bringing with them the promise of endless possibilities.
As I see expectant mothers or mothers with their new borns, I am reminded of my own pregnancy. In the womb of my heart I carry the hopes, dreams and exciting possibilities that God has placed inside me that are yet to be delivered into the labour room of this world.
Like expectant mothers, many of us in the waiting room of life are fearful or excited.
The aching heart of those for whom the gestation period appears to have no end, wonders whether it’s still worth holding on to hope and many are afraid they will miscarry and lose their pregnancy, whatever it may be.
They say joy comes in the morning. But how do you hold on when it seems the night is never-ending?
The new year affords us an opportunity to take stock, to remind ourselves of what it is we desire and for those who have a belief outside of ourselves (whatever that may be) the bright promise of a fresh slate prompts us to grab hold of that greater force outside us, and look to it for wisdom and strength.
One of the following is likely to eventually happen; an early birth of your dreams or desires, an on-time blessing or opportunity, or in many instances, a further extended period in the labour ward of your hopes and dreams.
In the delayed waiting, or in the season when everyone else seems to be moving forward and our dreams appear to never materialise, I have come to realise that while we may not be growing vertically, we are definitely growing vicariously. All is not lost.
We don’t always get to choose the exact time of our delivery, but whatever happens, let us resolve to be ready and in waiting, to not give up and to prepare for the birth of our dreams.
As long as we have life we have hope.