A New Season

But forget all that – it is nothing compared to what I am going to do. For I am about to do something new. See, I have already begun! Do you not see it? I will make a pathway through the wilderness. I will create rivers in the dry wasteland. Isaiah 43:18‑19 (NKJV)

I am glad that a New Year has come. 2012 brought great affliction for me. At the beginning of the year I felt like Job; in the middle, Jonah; and by the end, I felt like all three Hebrew boys: Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.

 Like Job, at times I questioned God concerning the severity and fairness of my trials, but I needed to learn that God did not cause my problems; He did, however, allow them. Instead of submitting to His will, I went the opposite way and ended up swallowed by my circumstances. Like Jonah, who found himself in the belly of the whale after running from God, the experience humbled me, teaching patience and obedience.

 Throughout 2012, I truly experienced what it means to contend for the faith. When the three Hebrews boys were cast into the fiery furnace, they held the absolute conviction that God would save them. Their faith and trust in God through the trial kept them from being consumed.

 
God’s word promises that after I have been tested I will come forth as pure gold. I experienced His refining fire this year, and learned precious lessons, like praying for His will for my life. He taught me submission, obedience, patience, humility, and service. I pray that the gold produced in the crucible of 2012 will shine in the coming year.

 Father, thank You for grace and mercy, for a New Year, and for a new season.

 © 2012 Wanda Currie