She JourneysSample

Spring - Written by Claire Hailwood

Day 12 - A Time to Heal, a Time for Peace 

I recently started a new job and was tasked with travelling to a major city in the UK to deliver an important presentation to the most important people in the organisation that I was working for. I was ready. I had planned, prepared, selected the outfit to ensure I looked the part. Then it all began to fall apart! My taxi was late so I missed the train and the next train was cancelled. I eventually arrived but as I walked out of the station I stepped into the heaviest rain and hail storm I’d ever seen. I went and bought an umbrella to try and protect the look I’d put together that morning. Every car, lorry, or bus that went by threw up a huge amount of water. The pavement was more like a free flowing river and the wind blew my umbrella the wrong way round so many times that I abandoned it entirely. It was quite the assault on the senses. I eventually arrived at the building, opened the door, and stepped inside. As I shut the door behind me I was immediately struck by the complete silence of the space, which was astonishing in comparison to the storm I’d just stepped out of! I stopped, closed my eyes, and paused to catch my breath, acknowledging the crazy morning it had been. Quietly laughing to myself at the ridiculousness of the weather, I eventually turned my attention to the opportunity that lay ahead of me and made every attempt to turn my ‘drowned rat’ look into one of a ‘competent professional’!

Ecclesiastes 3 verses 3 and 8 tell us that there’s a time to heal and a time for peace. Just as that entrance hall provided me with moments of peace and an opportunity to recover as I looked ahead to what was next, in a far more significant, and long lasting way, God invites us to allow Him to heal and to bring peace.

Psalm 23:1-3 (AMP) speaks of God leading us into green pastures, and the greenest of pastures come in the springtime. He lead us there to rest and recover, so that He can refresh and restore our souls. Surrounded by the beauty of green pastures, God comes to heal what has come before. He comes to bring peace alongside quiet waters through His presence. What an amazing picture of the power of God’s presence and His goodness to us. 

The thing about seasons is that they’re ever-changing. Seasons are designed to keep us moving. God brings healing and fills us with His deep, consuming, peace IN ORDER to lead us into what comes next. Too often we want to camp out in the green pasture by the river, however, it’s more likely that God’s invitation is to spend time in this environment in order to gain strength and vision for what lies ahead.

I love the declaration of verse 11 in Song of Songs 2, “the season has changed.” What follows is a description of the new season that is so vibrant;it’s bright, blossoming, filled with singing, and pruning for greater fruitfulness. It is a time of awakening, new life, and change, a time in which God heals, restores and refreshes us, a time when we realize just how good He is to us.

ASK :

• Are there areas in your life where you need to allow God to bring healing and peace? Spend time in His presence today talking to Him about these areas.
• What comes next? Where and what is God leading you into next?