The passage of time is always an interesting thing to study. It’s amazing how quickly the seasons change, how tomorrow can make such a difference, how yesterday can seem so long ago. Starting a new year is nothing more than a calendar jump really, but it’s still a daunting undertaking. Yet another 12 months to live, and who knows what may be in them?
When you’ve had a tumultuous year like the one I’ve had, it’s a leap that requires considerable faith. In looking back on 2010, I’ve often felt like the spider crawling up the water pipe - one moment it was bright and sunny, and the next moment, someone poured in water and life became a wet, spluttering and slippery mess. Not once. Not twice.
The wetness goes away, and the sun comes back up, without fail. Away from the spider and its troubles in the drain, life moves on unfettered. But it’s having the faith to start walking again that determines whether the spider lives or dies. And so it is for us too. Who is to say what the days hold? Who is to know whether the rain will start pouring again as soon as we make the first step?
Some people take the world-approved ‘strong’ route, building walls miles high to protect them from any errant spray of a shower. With each day that passes, their skins get thicker by experience, and we admire their ability to feel nothing, and nod our heads philosophically when they pronounce high sounding mantras on living a soul-less life.
Yet others prefer the difficult trail of faith and hope. They believe that no matter how wet the last minute was, the good Lord has sunshine up his sleeve for the next. Their hearts are open and their hurts many. They see eternity where only a moment exists, and believe the promises over circumstances. As soon as it’s sunny enough to walk, you’ll see them whistling along happily up the pipe they slid down last time.
It’s the path I choose to take, though it gets pretty rough. In all honesty, I’m just as unsure as the next guy. But there’s a difference between uncertainty and doubt. Uncertainty is a matter of comprehension; doubt is a matter of faith. I may not understand much, and I am certainly a bagful of questions, but I have no doubt that it shall all be revealed to me in time, and that God is firmly in control. Of the pipe, the weather and everything in between.
It would be great to quote something biblical at this point, like the story of how David’s longest episode in life was as a fugitive, or of Joseph’s as a prisoner, or of Abraham’s barren years. But there’s an example closer home – I am here today. It’s a testament to a true God, who carries his sheep on his shoulders when their legs are broken and they’d rather die than walk; who gently nurses them back to health, and teaches them how to run again, never mind previously disabled limbs.
It’s parts amusing and parts scary to think that HE has 365 days – again – to surprise me, to lead me to places I never thought I would go, to load me with gifts I didn’t ask for, to get me out of trouble I never even thought I’d get into in the first place, to be my father. Even with all the ‘experience’ I think I have, nothing beats that expectation, because I know that with every new day, ‘no eye has seen, no ear has heard…’
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