New Hope

My garden isn’t looking so green these days. The dead of winter has left it a mere remnant of its former self. The frigid temperatures experienced here last month, the lowest in twenty years, didn’t help either. Even my typically hardy pansies succumbed to the frigid temperatures.

Just when I thought I needed to dump out one of my pots to plant anew, I saw the tiniest buds of life. I didn’t think much of it a week ago. Today those new buds are now larger and offer a bit of hope for the future. Apparently the weather wasn’t enough to kill this plant after all. The funny thing is, I don’t even know what is growing. I’ll simply have to wait and see. Most people would count it a minor victory considering all that was lost, but I appreciate these random surprises.

That’s one of the joys of the garden as it is in life. There is always something new budding if we take time to be still and take notice. God readily uses what is existing and from it brings forth something new. New ideas often stem from previous failures. The wisdom gained from what doesn’t work is often a springboard toward something that will.

The New Year provides opportunities for new things. The dead zone that is currently my garden offers hope for new blooms not based on what I see but rather what I have learned through the years. The garden is faithful–its perennial blooms will emerge once more. I know the potential is there. I only have to nurture what already exists and wait patiently.

Though far too early to plant right now, it is never too early to dream about what can be. I’m ever searching the garden for signs of new life. Yet, unlike the garden, God’s potential in us and through us is limitless.

What signs of hope do you see for the New Year?

Devotional Prompt: Behold, I will do a new thing, Now it shall spring forth; Shall you not know it? I will even make a road in the wilderness And rivers in the desert. Isaiah 43:19 NKJV