For the past several years I began the practice of reviewing the year just finished and thinking about areas of focus for the future. I would also come up with a theme for the year and a cover image for my disc-bound planner. The image for 2020 was five loaves and two fish alluding to how Jesus fed thousands with just that….the theme was “the impossible.” In reflecting over 2020 there were many impossible things that came to pass. My planner cover for 2021 came to me in January as I was creating a workshop for my women’s bible study. I am not gonna lie….I didn’t like it. I resisted the image. I expected the image to be fluffy and full of hope. Fire is far from fluffy, but this scene does depict hope. The scene is from chapter 3 in the book of Daniel. King Nebuchadnezzar ordered Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego to be thrown into a fire after they refused to bow and worship the gold statue. But instead of the three men dying, the king saw four men walking around in the fire and one that looked like a God. The king called them out of the fire and saw that the men were completely unharmed. Two scriptures that came to mind with the image of the fire was Isaiah 43: 2 & 19.
When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze.
Isaiah 43:2
For I am about to do something new. See, I have already begun! Do you not see it? I will make a pathway through the wilderness. I will create rivers in the dry wasteland.
Isaiah 43:19
I finally painted the image in February. 2021 will have its own trials or “fires.” Going through difficulties are not pleasant but are often important in the way they shape us and the lessons they impart. The image is a reminder that I am not alone in whatever fires 2021 may bring. God is with me and He can make a path where I see none. And that’s how God often works….we don’t see the way until we fully rely on Him and even then, what is revealed is just the very next step, never the whole plan.
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