Renewal by Pastor Derek Lang

There is a green plant outside my front door. It was there when I moved in 13 years ago. I do not know what kind it is. It is just green, and it grows whether I water it or not. Recently, it bloomed beautiful white flower buds. Never seeing it bloom before or knowing it even could, I was struck with a brief moment of awe. “Wow,” I thought. My spirit actually felt energized and uplifted in seeing God make something new out of something old and never-changing.

Life has been a whirlwind of activity - work, church, volunteering, and personal life. There are moments when I feel run down. But I have also found myself filled with renewed energy through two activities: talking with God in prayer and talking about God with others. Over the past 12 months, I have been intentionally setting aside time for prayer as well as keeping prayer in the background of my daily life. I have also been attending meetings with clergy or meeting with people about church activities. As a result, I seem to be more attuned to seeing God’s presence in things all around me. Prayers are amazingly answered, and things happen that one might call coincidence but are really God moments (moments when God does things to remind you of God’s presence).

I think renewal is like that. When we intentionally set aside time for God, we become keenly aware of God’s presence and God’s energy all around us. Those “wow” moments are like light bulbs turning on in our souls whenever we witness God creating something new out of something old.

“See, I am doing a new thing!

Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?

I am making a way in the wilderness

and streams in the wasteland.” Isaiah 43:19