Tomorrow, though, I head back to Spain for the new year that lies ahead, and so it was kind of interesting that my Bible reading this morning was in Psalm 84. I remember a January day, eleven years ago, when I had only been living in Spain for a few months. A South African friend gave me a word based on vs 5 in this psalm: that God saw me as someone who had "set my heart on pilgrimage" (one translation of the part that says "whose heart is set on seeking you") and that He would be my strength in the years ahead.
As I meditated on the psalm later that day, I remember praying that verse 6 would also be true in my life: that, even though I'd moved to live in a new and potentially dry place (without the community and vibrant ministry activity I'd known in South Africa) that God would turn it into a place of refreshing springs.
I didn't know at the time that the town I'd moved to live in, AlhaurÃn de la Torre, was historically famous for its springs and as a place for refreshing the troops. There is still an area of town that is called Manantiales - the Spanish word for springs.
Looking back now on eleven years lived in southern Spain, I can see that it truly did become a place of springs. We planted a church and we established the leadership retreat centre - a place of community and hospitality, worship and refreshing for Christian leaders from all over the world.
This morning, as I re-read that psalm, I found myself praying that verse 7 will become true in my life during this new year: that I will "go from strength to strength" during 2020. In one sense, that has already begun to be true: from being nearly crippled with arthritis in my feet a few years ago, these past two years have seen me daily walking the dogs and gradually building up my physical strength and capacity again. But in another sense, it feels as if I've been growing increasingly weaker on a physical level: I've had a perplexing series of musculoskeletal injuries, and I seem to be having an increasing amount of lung infections over the winter months every year.
So this morning I prayed that 2020 will be a year when I go from strength to strength: that my lungs will be strengthened and that there will not be so many infections this year; that my physical body will be strengthened and that I won't have so many sprains and injuries this year... I prayed for a strengthening of my health in this new year.
But beyond the physical, I prayed that 2020 will be a year of going from strength to strength spiritually: in ministry, in community, in evangelism and in fruitfulness. It's my prayer for you, too. May you know good health in 2020 and may you be strengthened in your relationships (with God and with others) and in your inner self. I wish you God's richest blessings and encouragements for the year that lies ahead.
