The Genesis Journey

The path ahead, tended and well-traveled...

The door is open, and the path disappears around the bend into the trees. The first step is tentative. I hold my breath, starring forward. Doubts, failings, fears, discouragements; all the past burdens wrap themselves around my shoulders.

“I’m doing a new thing,” His voice whispers, “leave those weights behind.”  The warmth of His hand on my shoulder replaces the heaviness, bringing courage and hope. The next step opens the expanse of sky, the third the mountains beyond. Like incense, His presence freshens the breeze. Possibilities replace the doldrums of  fear and indecision.

“I’ll never leave you,” comes the whisper through the trees ahead, “but you must learn to listen for my voice. As long as you walk with me, you walk as a new creation. The past will remain past. Journey into the New.”

The next step brings assurance, the step after that hope. Joy comes in the pacing, the genesis of the New.

If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has gone, the new has come!

2 Corinthians 5:17 NIV

Stillness is Part of Preparation

Waiting for the door to open

A fresh New Year lies ahead, like a pilgrim’s path stretched through hills we can’t see over or around. These days of winter, when all the world rests, are for us to still and silent before You.  They are to seek Your direction for the times ahead, and for the ability to find Your foot-printed path leading the way.

They are a time for quiet Communion.

The bag of dreams opens before You. One purposeful possibility at a time set between us. Like unpolished gems, I turn them one way, then another, and search them for unseen potential.They are stones from a lifetime of journeying, tools and abilities developed or dormant, ideas untried. I seek the ones that stir the light in Your eyes, watching Your face for its life-giving grace.

I wait for Your word, a confirmation. It always comes. A gentle quiet, a surety, and the door opens. You give everything necessary for the journey ahead  and the tasks assigned.

We know each New Year will bring seasons of sun and sorrow, change with limits. We have enough mystery ahead to keep us curious and moving forward, and enough of God’s loving presence and providence to know we won’t be moving forward alone.

But today is for waiting, for drawing close to Your chest and listening to Your heart.

Stillness is part of preparation. It precedes new life for a New Year.

I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in His word I put my hope. Ps. 130:5