The Month of Yet

By Brad Henderson

Itʼs February. Woo hoo. I honestly canʼt think of a month with which I am less impressed than February. As far as Iʼm concerned, itʼs something of a nothing month: the football season is over and we are left with basketball and professional bowling to keep us occupied on the tube; winter is in mid-stride and itʼs really not a lot of fun to go outside where itʼs cloudy, gloomy, and mushy; and yes, there is Valentineʼs Day, but you have to remember that Iʼm divorced. Thatʼs not a happy day for me.

February, then, is an extraordinarily ordinary month. Which means that we need to be on guard for the sneakiness of God. Remember: ours is a God of paradox (if you want to be first you have to be last, if you want to be greatest you have to be least, if you want to have it all, you have to give it all up, etc., etc.), so it stands to reason that a month of ordinariness might be the precise time when God does something amazing.

I have no idea what it might be. God never seems inclined to give any hints about these sorts of things, but given the fact that “Yet” is Godʼs second favorite word, I am fairly certain that this time of seeming nothingness is simply the calm before the storm. Given a few more weeks, and a less Arctic weather pattern, thereʼs no telling what God might do.

So enjoy the boring days while you can, because once they are gone, we will be the recipients of a veritable explosion of growth, creativity and newness. Like the seeds slumbering in the cold, wet soil of Alabama, now is the time for us to engage in temporary hibernation if we are lazy, contemplation if we are industrious, gathering our own strength for the things that havenʼt happened... yet.

And be assured: something will happen. It may be nothing more than the emergence of spring accompanied by the need to cut the lawn once more. Or it might very well be the renewal of your very life with a sense of resurrection so strong that you will think your life to this point has been a mere prelude. “In the cold and snow of winter, There's a spring that waits to be, Unrevealed until its season, Something God alone can see. ”

“FAMILY MATTERS”

This Sunday, we continue a series on what the Bible can teach us about being part of a family. Living as a family is not easy and itʼs not always pretty, but in the end, the benefits and blessings are unsurpassed:
February 13- Those Who Go Before Us: Caring for Parents
February 20- Those Who Come After Us: Caring for Children
February 27- Marriage: Spaces in the Togetherness
March 6- Birth and Death: Beginning and End