Hi, I’m Joni Eareckson Tada with a word about winter …
The other Saturday it was so dreary and rainy outside; cold, the sky was gray. It sure is funny how a day like that can shift your mood; how it can put a damper on your spirits. Or maybe it’s just this time of year. There is, I don’t know, a kind of emptiness, a kind of quietness that almost feels hollow. The trees are stark, the earth is brown, and rain splatters against the window. Well, I was not about to let the dark clouds get me down, so I decided to cheer myself up with a cup of tea and a book of favorite poems. Ken was kind enough to start a fire in the fireplace, and as he was doing that, I began looking through the poems and came across this remarkable one by Ruth Calkins. And it is called, of all things: ‘January’. And this is how it goes, she says,
It's January, Lord – the drab, dreary middle – and my thoughts are as drab as the miserable month. Does everybody hit a January slump, or am I the only one? The first week wasn't too bad; there were Christmas thank-yous to write, a few resolutions to store away, the huddle of year-end sales. But thank-you notes bring no returns, and resolutions are quickly broken, and marked-down trinkets fast lose appeal. When you said, "Behold, I make all things new," did you forget January, Lord? Or, in January, do I sometimes forget you?
I read that poem again because it really summed it up for me. God has not forgotten January, but sometimes in January, I can let the dreary season drag down my spirits. If I don’t watch it — for that matter if you don’t watch it — we can forget the goodness of the Lord; His bright, sun-shiny love on a cold, rainy Saturday afternoon, or Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday afternoon. I think this is why the Psalms constantly tell us to remember. Psalm 77 begins with those wonderful heartwarming words, “I will remember ….” Let’s remember as this year gets well underway that the Spirit of the Living God is with us constantly, good days and bad, cold days and warm, rainy days and bright days. Our circumstances may change, our surroundings may shift, as with the weather; and our situations in life may alter, but God is all together change-less.
So covenant with me today and say, “I will remember the goodness of the Lord. I will not forget His many kindnesses toward me. I will praise Him for His faithfulness in days past. I will remember what He did for me on the cross, and I will remember His promise that He is coming again. I will not forget my focus, I will not forget my mission, my reason for living; I will not forget that I was purchased with a price, that I was redeemed, and that I had been saved and rescued. I will remember—even in this bleak month of January—I will remember to press on, to strive, to push forward, pray toward, love and trust and work out my own salvation with fear and trembling because our God is an awesome God, a great God and He is the God of all my Januarys!
And, hey, if you need prayer during this month or next, drop “Joni and Friends” a line on our wall, or visit my radio page at joniandfriends.org. Tell us how we can lift you up before the Lord, especially if your spirits are low. And don’t forget to visit me next time here on "Joni and Friends" for words of encouragement; again that’s "Joni and Friends," where we’ve been sharing Christ with people with disabilities for 35 years.
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