Notes from the Faithful…
Our calendar is telling us that Winter is past, and Spring is upon us.
The snow that still swirls outside our windows at times and our breath puffing out in clouds before our faces seem to tell something different.
It’s a little like what I see happening in our hearts as well - Winter has curled its frost around the edges and one can begin to wonder when life will bloom and thrive again.
I mentioned in my last note to you that putting down roots in a place is something I have learned to let go of.
But this morning as I read through Ephesians, I was reminded that roots are gloriously unavoidable,
For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
Our rootedness in the love of God is a beautiful result of abiding in Christ, not in a location or place.
This will be what sustains in the seasons of Winter, and it’s why it’s important to read the writings of the saints who have faithfully gone before.
Samuel Rutherford is one such sojourner. A Puritan and pastor who wrote copious amounts of letters to encourage the hearts of the discouraged around him; at times writing from exile while his own heart was broken over being unable to see his parishioners face to face.
A woman named Faith Cook took excerpts from his letters and turned them into poetry, and it is here that I want to share one such poem with you in your own season of Winter.
Unforgotten Prayers
O woman greatly loved,
Your prayers are heard on high;
God reads the language of your tears,
And marks the earnest sigh.
Firm is the Rock to which you cleave,
Faint not, keep breath and still believe.
So shall your bow abide
Unshaken in its strength.
Hold fast in faith, though all prove weak
Or weary grow at length.
The field is lost if you should fail
But well-placed hope must soon prevail.
For prayers that rise to God,
Though many years pass by,
Remembered still, wait near His throne,
Beneath His kindly eye.
The God of glory must fulfill
His faithful promises and will.
And mercy shall come down;
For though the bush may burn,
Yet unconsumed it still remains,
Till Christ in mercy turn,
And by His Spirit’s quickening breath
Raise up His bride from dust and death.
And she shall sing once more
As in her youthful days,
High songs of praise to her fair King,
While men in wonder gaze.
Then shall the olive bud again
And all Christ’s enemies be slain.
To Marion M’Naught, Aberdeen, 1637 (Letter 221)
Let the faithful words of those who have gone before you warm your heart towards the love of Christ Jesus. Lift your eyes off of what is going around you and fix them firmly on the One Who already knows the moment this season will begin to change…
With love.
