Dry, dusty, dead. The landscape screamed for rain and exuded hopelessness. Heartbreaking. A friend tells of his struggle on the farm.
‘If it doesn’t rain by February, we’re finished.’
Then the fires, the choking smoke, homes lost, properties lost, people lost.
Hail next. Bigger than golf balls. Thousands and thousands of cars written off. Damaged homes.
And then the rain. Day after day of soaking, wet blessing.
Dead ground returns to life. A lush green carpet transforms the hills, the nature strips. The trees stripped by hail sprout new leaves and the burnt bush regenerates.
Life from death, from death to life, only One who can green a landscape in the space of a few days. Only One who holds the keys to life and death in His hands.
And now the virus spreads panic and shelves are bare and everyone is distancing themselves.
But she won’t distance herself from the One who holds the keys. The One who shows her His power to transform, to resurrect.
Hope flourishes like the landscape. Her hope is in Him, who holds it all. She places herself and all the nations not only close, but in His arms. Those powerful resurrection arms spread wide.
Yes Alison it’s been a crazy 6 or more months and so much has happened, God our dear Heavenly Father has heard our prayers and gave us the rain that our country needed to heal the drought and put out the fires. Even though we got more then we bargained for as the rivers started flowing and rising and even floods and then the storms, the hail in most of our states that copped a good belting causing heaps of devastation once again. We pick up pretty quickly and Australians are adaptable and the farmers were happy even with the floods. God is good, then the calm before the storm and this dreaded pandemic started and reached every corner of the world, uncertain time for all and distance restrictions and lockdowns not knowing for how long. The world will never be the same again but there is hope and I believe that this time of lockdown teaches us to slow down and be grateful for the little things in life. We all have been to busy running around and not spending enough time focusing on God and the good things in life that matter most and that is family and spending time together in the home, talking, playing games together and cooking meals and eating together as a family and not one or the other running off to meetings or sports etc etc. There is that hope of learning to tolerate each other more. Alison I love your writing and yes you shared that hope thank you. God bless you and your family with love Annelie