January 13, 2025 Renewal
Monday, January 13, 2025
Renewal
Tremble, O earth, at the presence of the Lord,
at the presence of the God of Jacob,
who turns the rock into a pool of water,
the flint into a spring of water.
Psalm 114:8, NRSV
When I called to schedule my annual physical, the receptionist stunned me with unexpected news: it had been so long since my last visit (pre-COVID!) that I no longer counted as an active patient. I had to start over—new doctor in the practice, new labs, new everything. What felt at first like an inconvenience soon revealed itself as an opportunity.
Last week, Pastor Kellie wrote about the new that can await us in the new year. I admit that the word renewal has pursued me, even before New Year’s Day. I see it in Scripture and devotionals during my quiet time, hear it random conversations, and even encounter it on product labels at the grocery store. After years of upheaval, division, and loss, renewal whispers like a promise, urging me to step into its invitation.
Psalm 114 belongs to the Hallel, a cluster of praise psalms sung during Jewish festivals to celebrate God’s miraculous deliverance of His people. These psalms weave a tapestry of gratitude for the past with trust for renewal in the future. They proclaim that the same God who parted the sea, crumbled enemy strongholds, and sustained His people in the wilderness will do it again. In verse 8, we see the God of transformation, turning unyielding rock into flowing water and lifeless flint into refreshing springs. The Lord is the God of renewal.
The renewal I crave isn’t just physical or emotional—it’s spiritual. I long for God to do for my soul what He did for the wilderness rocks: transform the unyielding places into reservoirs of life. Eugene Peterson captures this sentiment:
There is freedom to change, to become more than we have been, in the presence of the God who ‘turned the rock into a pool of cool water…’ Life in the spiritual universe is governed not by flexible laws but by inexplicable graces, which transform the drone of everyday life into a dance. (The Message Devotional Bible, p. 663)
I don’t know what your last season has held. Perhaps you’ve experienced losses that feel like barren flint or struggles as immovable as stone. But I believe God invites us to trust His power to renew. Spring stirs just beneath winter’s surface. New life will come. And as we look for the signs, let’s guard our hearts against anything or anyone who would try to extinguish that hope.
Reflect: What dry or hardened places in your life need God’s renewing touch? How will you watch for His work and guard your hope as you wait for transformation?
Prayer: God of miracles and new beginnings, Do it again. You are the One who transforms the unyielding and breathes life into the barren. I bring to You the places in my life that feel dry and lifeless. Do it again. Renew my spirit. Strengthen me to trust Your promises and to wait with hope and expectation for the new things You are preparing. Let Your grace transform my everyday life into a dance of joy. All to Your glory, Amen.
By His Grace,
Gloria Ashby
Lay Leader